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A.Word.A.Day--tattersall

tattersall also Tattersall (TAT-uhr-sawl, -suhl) noun

1. A pattern of squares formed by dark lines on a light background.

2. A cloth with this pattern.

adjective

Having a tattersall pattern.

[After Tattersall's, a horse market in London, where such patterns were common on horse blankets. The market was named after Richard Tattersall, an auctioneer (1724-1795).]

"Too much? Perhaps. There were moments when the tweed and tattersall layers, puffed with motley fur and mixed with crepe, vintage-print skirts, seemed stuffy and overdreamed."
Cathy Horyn; Four Women Swagger In Milan; The New York Times; Mar 5, 2003.

"I was futzing with the hinges on the front-yard gate on a Saturday afternoon, my tattersall shirtsleeves rolled up and mind off in Oklahoma, when I noticed Fido in the California shade, snoozing ..."
Ron Hansen; My Kid's Dog; Harper's Magazine (New York); Mar 2003.

This week's theme: words of horse-related origins.

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