Tattoo (bugle call)

"Tattoo" is a bugle call played in the evening in the British Army and the United States Army.

The original concept of this call was played on the snare drum and was known as "tap-too", with the same rule applying. Later on, the name was applied to more elaborate military performances, known as military tattoos. The etymology of the military tattoo is from Dutch "tap toe", unrelated to the Tahitian origin of an ink tattoo.^[1]

^ Julia Cresswell (2014). "tattoo". Little Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins. ISBN 978-0199683635. p. 106. "Tattoos on the skin came into English in the 18th century from the Polynesian languages of the Pacific Islands—Captain Cook's journals are the first to record the word. The military tattoo sounded by drum or bugle to recall soldiers to their quarters in the evening was originally written tap-too. It comes from Dutch doe den tap toe, literally 'close the tap'. The tap was on a cask, closing it signalled time for drinking was over and soldiers should go home."

[1] Julia Cresswell (2014). "tattoo". Little Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins. ISBN 978-0199683635. p. 106. "Tattoos on the skin came into English in the 18th century from the Polynesian languages of the Pacific Islands—Captain Cook's journals are the first to record the word. The military tattoo sounded by drum or bugle to recall soldiers to their quarters in the evening was originally written tap-too. It comes from Dutch doe den tap toe, literally 'close the tap'. The tap was on a cask, closing it signalled time for drinking was over and soldiers should go home."

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