the.com/tatter
A rag's resume — proof fabric lived harder than you did.
means A torn, ragged scrap of cloth hanging loose from something worn through — or, in the plural, the shredded remains of anything battered by use.
from Traces back to Middle English 'tatere,' likely from a Scandinavian source — compare Old Norse 'tǫturr,' meaning a torn piece of cloth or rag. The word entered English already meaning raggedness, and it's a cousin of 'tag' and 'tag-rag,' both pointing to the same image of cloth fraying at the edges into loose, hanging strips.
- origin
- from old norse tötturr, meaning rag or shred
- usage shift
- once a noun, now mostly used as to tatters
- flag term
- tattered flags were historically never discarded, only retired