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The word "tattoo" has two meanings in English. The more common word, ink art under the skin, is Polynesian. The other word comes from Dutch: tap to!, meaning "[beer] taps closed!" (R&R over, all soldiers reurn to the barracks.) The soldiers line up and march to the barracks. Eventually this lining up and marching got separated from its context, and "tap to" came to refer to a marching spectacle as an end in itself. Then the word merged with the Polynesian word.
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada -- 30-Jun-2001
Copyright © 1999-2004 by Mike (Sluggo) Orr
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