tatty

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtæti/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æti

Etymology 1

Clipping of potato.

Noun

tatty (plural tatties)

1. (Scotland, Northern England, Geordie) A potato.

   Synonyms: spud, tater

   • 2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 245:

     I'm buying fucking tatties.

Alternative forms

• tattie, tatie

Etymology 2

From tatter +‎ -y.

Adjective

tatty (comparative tattier, superlative tattiest)

1. Tattered; dilapidated, distressed, worn-out, torn

   The tramp wore a tatty old overcoat.

   • 2007, Arctic Monkeys, “The Bakery”, in Fluorescent Adolescent:

     I wish you would have smiled in the bakery
     Or sat on a tatty settee
     At a mutual friend's gathering

   • 2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, page 67:

     I have arrived to catch the 0830 TfW service to Crewe, worked by a tatty and unrefurbished 175114. As if ashamed of its appearance, it slinks into Platform 2 (instead of Platform 1, where it was expected). No announcement had been made, and we leave without any fanfare.

Translations

ragged, worn out, torn

• Bulgarian: дрипав (bg) (dripav), опърпан (bg) (opǎrpan)
• Czech: ošuntělý, omšelý
• Maori: taretare, tāwekoweko, karukaru, petapeta, kanukanu, kuha

Etymology 3

From Hindi [Term?].

Noun

tatty (plural tatties)

1. (India) A woven mat or screen hung at a door or window and kept wet to moisten and cool the air as it enters.
   • 1855, Pharoah and Co, A Gazetteer of Southern India, page 553:

     […] tatties are placed in front of the verandahs to keep out the rains during the monsoon; […]

Alternative forms

• tat, tatt, tattee, tattie

Etymology 4

Noun

tatty (plural tatties)

1. A kind of reggae dance move.

Alternative forms

• tattie

See also

• tatty bye

Scots

Noun

tatty (plural tatties)

1. Alternative form of tattie