A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Gargdevil’s tattoo
PRONUNCIATION:
(dev-uhlz ta-TOO)
MEANING:
noun: A rhythmic tapping of fingers, knuckles, or feet.
ETYMOLOGY:
From devil, from Old English deofol, from Latin and Greek diabolus
(accuser or slanderer), + tattoo (a series of hits, as on a drum), from
Dutch taptoe (shut the tap). Earliest documented use: 1755.
NOTES:
They say an idle mind is the devil’s workshop. Well, an idle hand
does a devil’s tattoo on any available surface, usually as a sign of
impatience, agitation, or deep thought. The tattoo here is a homonym
with the skin tattoo which comes from Polynesian languages (Tahitian,
Tongan, Samoan, Marquesan, etc.).
USAGE:
“My neighbour, you see, is a writer, and a reasonably serious one at
that. Three to four hours, I tell you, almost motionless but for the
fugitive fingers tapping a soundless devil’s tattoo on the keys of
his laptop.”
Jack Ross; Troubling Our Sleep; Ka Mate Ka Ora (Auckland, New Zealand); Sep 2009.
Jack Ross; Troubling Our Sleep; Ka Mate Ka Ora (Auckland, New Zealand); Sep 2009.
