Blood and Ink

(c) 2008 Andrew David King

A threadbare couch with pieces of fabric tearing out at the seams, showing through to the stuffing underneath. A ripped and wrinkled newspaper laying unnoticed on the edge of the sidewalk as pedestrians walk by and nonchalantly kick it with their feet. An American flag fraying to shreds as it is tossed violently in a merciless gale. A man who locks himself in his own house, suspicious of his own sanity, sure he is losing his grip on reality and his identity, as everything around him slowly begins to make less and less sense. All of these images could be accurately described by a word as unique as it is intriguing: TATTERDEMALION.

To best understand the word tatterdemalion, we must first dissect it etymologically and then explore its potential definitions and its significance.

According to Etymology Online, the word tatterdemalion appeared sometime in the 1600s and was originally written tatter-de-mallian. The root word tatter, a noun, originates from Middle English, meaning a scrap of cloth, often in reference to clothing that was decoratively slashed or jagged. It is related to the past-participle adjective tattered. According to the Oxford American Dictionary, tattered means “torn, old, and in generally poor condition; in tatters” and, in the figurative sense, “virtually destroyed; ruined”. The phrase in tatters is a modification of the word tattered. According to WordNet, a service of Princeton University, the words tatterdemalion and tattered are synonymous words of different eras, which is most likely an accurate judgment. It is interesting to observe that the first seven letters of tatterdemalion may serve as a contraction for the word tattered. It is also worth noting that besides serving primarily as an adjective, tatterdemalion may also be treated as a noun, e.g. a shabby person dressed in tattered clothing. Etymology Online also suggests that the word tatter may serve as a reference to Tartar, a member of the historical central-Asian nomadic peoples, including Mongols and Turks, thus stretching the word’s implications to that of “vagabond” or “gypsy”. This in turn may reconnect back to the root word tatter’s meaning in regards to clothing, considering that the clothes of some nomadic peoples may have been tattered or fragmented in nature. Whether this connection between the historical perception and the common reality of the word was intentional or unintentional is unknown; the validity of this connection remains uncertified. The second part of the word tatterdemalion remains of generally unknown origin, although some online sources suggest that de may serve as a connector to the unknown vernacular malion.

As explained previously, the word, on a physical level, evidently indicates something that is ripped or torn to shreds. This especially conjures up images of fabric, and, as explored in its etymological origins, this is a relevant usage—as the word most likely originated in reference to torn pieces of fabric. Modern usage of the word tatterdemalion, however, extends past the physical realm and reaches into the metaphysical. It may be used to describe a state of mind that is not coherent or completely sane. The word’s implications of fragmentation or other means of separation dictate that it may apply to any situation where a person, object, or other subject is not entirely collected in a specified way—or when their sanity is called into question.

When one further considers this concept of elemental separation, or this distinction between numerous dimensions of existence or perception, the word tatterdemalion immediately becomes far more complicated than it appears when first encountered—when it originally applied only to external characteristics or features of an object. The implications of the word in the new sense, besides expanding on the actual items it may apply to, also include the ideas behind the defining physical characteristics of the word. By reaching beyond the physical, as previously described, we find an entire layer of ideas that lie underneath the physical perception as a foundation for its existence. Here is where the true root idea of the word tatterdemalion exists—in the unknown, the shattered, the fragmented, the ruined, the incomplete. It applies from such subjects as clothing to sanity, even—that is, if one considers the mind to arguably be the most defining of all personal elements, with the possibility that the mind itself can become fragmented. By understanding this adjective that is most commonly used to describe physical features in an original, unique, and metaphysical way, one may discover the prevalence that it has to ideas regarding the subconscious mind.

To this date, the subconscious mind arguably remains the least understood part of the human body. The conscious mind’s understanding of the inner workings of the subconscious mind is, at best, a set of fragmented and splintered theories—theories that are tatterdemalion themselves. This can be accurately expressed when one recalls what one remembers of last night’s dreams. Often one does not remember much, save for faded and tattered pieces of what one experienced in those dark hours, parts of a wild yet oddly understandable illogic that no longer functions once the conscious mind has re-established its own set of rules and reasoning.

In this way the uncommon word tatterdemalion is a powerful one, carrying within its syllables the meanings of more than one word combined—an enticing uncertainty. It bears the fascinating duality of language in its ability to be used strongly as both a physical and metaphysical adjective. This summarizing quality of multiple potential meanings, when most words are only recognized by a single basic one, allows it a relevant and convincing amount of weight, especially when the realms of the conscious and subconscious mind are brought into question.