Literally and Idiomatically: Substandard

“Teken” is a standard. The symbol of quality in Israel is known as the “Tav Teken,” issued by a laboratory to assure consumers that the item meets certain safety regulations. “Tat” is an Aramaic word meaning under, and is used as a prefix meaning sub-. In the army, for example, a tat-aluf (Brigadier General) is a bit under an aluf (Major General); a tat-miklah is a bit less than a machine gun, i.e. a submachine gun. Therefore tat teken is simply the adjective substandard. And I can think of a lot of things it applies to, but we won’t go there…

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