What is TAT?

Leejay, Smart Dalek is not correct in this instance. Religious tat in the sense you are probably seeing it discussed by Anglicans is absolutely not "slang for spiritual tchotchkes". Tchtochkes are tat per se - tat as in the kind of stuff you find in seedy souvenir stalls but when an Anglocatholic writes about seeing 'superb tat' at a church he/she does not mean that the church was tasteless or kitsch but the very reverse - that they had excellent elaborate vestments and ecclesiastical paraphernalia suitable for High Anglican worship. Hence a 'tat-box' is slang for a certain sort of High anglican church and 'tat queens' are priests or servers who like dressing up in elaborate vestments. Here's a thread from <a href="http://forum.ship-of-fools.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=11;t=000494">Ship of Fools</a> which has some discussion of tat on it - and a <a href="http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:JBFeKge52bIJ:forum.ship-of-fools.com/cgi-bin/UBB/ultimatebb.cgi%3Fubb%3Dget_topic% ...  more

TAT or Tapas Acupressure Technique was developed in 1993 by Tapas Fleming, an Acupuncturist in California. Whilst doing allergy work she came up with a wonderful new way to help her patients end allergic reactions and traumatic stress. Over the years, TAT has been used hundreds of thousands of times by individuals world-wide to achieve better health and greater happiness. We are honored to offer these treatments at the Energy Therapy Centre. The TAT 'procedure' is very gentle with very powerful potential. A person doesn't have to have vision of the origins of their pain or disharmony in order to use TAT. The procedure, together with your focus on the trauma for example, creates a connection between the cell's memory and your function of vision. The TAT procedure (pose) itself generates energy in your brain's vision centres. When you review the trauma, it becomes physically, mentally and emotionally integrated within moments. The transformational experience of TAT has a meditative ...  more

Dictionary definition: tat n. ragged, shoddy article; tattiness. Tat has always been a derogatory term for what people think of as worthless, useless junk. To us, tat is desirable and beautiful to look at. There are four main qualifications for something to be regarded as tat: 1. It must be cheap: Nothing expensive can ever be called tat. It may have all the other qualifications but if it cost more than a couple of pounds then it is merely a beautiful or horrendous (depending to taste) object. The main thing about tat is that it can be justified by its lack of (monetary) value. "But it was a bargain!", is the frequent cry of the habitual tat-buyer and can diffuse most criticism of the purchase. 2. It should be plastic: Plastic is such a cheap, all-purpose type of substance which makes it ideal for creating tat. It can make all kinds of shapes and textures and will not usually break easily. Plus it is usually brightly coloured. 3. It should be brightly coloured: Bright colours are ...  more

Thanks everyone for the help. The discussions I saw were mostly UK based so their use of "tat" to describe religious bric-a-brac now makes sense. And I have a new word to describe the kitschy, campy crap I love.  more

I've never heard it referred to in the context of religion, but the word 'tat' is commonly used here in the UK to refer to small, cheap, and usually tasteless, items.  more

Flitcraft, thanks. That makes even more sense. I believe that some of the places I have seen it used were talking about tat in the sense of Smart Dalek's kitschy stuff but the Anglicans must have been talking about it the way you described. Thanks for the in-depth info.  more

just in case it's not completely clear, there is no religious conotation at all to the word tat - it's just junk.  more