TAN(N)IN m. n. any of a class of yellowish or brownish solid compounds found in many plants and used as tanning agents, mordants, medical astringents, etc. “tannic acid, vegetable substance capable of converting animal hide to leather,” 1802, from French tannin (1798), from tan “crushed oak bark containing tannin” cf. late Old English tannian “to convert hide into leather” (by steeping it in tannin), from Medieval Latin tannare “tan, dye a tawny color” (c. 900), from tannum “crushed oak bark,” used in tanning leather, probably from a Celtic source (such as Breton tann “oak tree”). The meaning “make brown by exposure to the sun” (as tanning does to hides) first recorded 1520s; intransitive sense also from 1520s. Of persons, not considered an attractive feature until 20c.; in Shakespeare, “to deprive of the freshness and beauty of youth” (Sonnet CXV). As an adjective from 1620s. To tan (someone's) hide in the figurative sense is from 1660s. Related: Tanned; tanning. German Tanne “fir tree” (as in Tannenbaum) might be a transferred meaning from the same Celtic source. Tan (n.) “bronze color imparted to skin by exposure to sun,” 1749, see tan (v.) . Earlier as “substance made of crushed bark used in making leather” (c. 1600). As a simple name for a brownish color, in any context, it is recorded from 1888. The adjective meaning “of the color of tanned leather” is recorded from 1660s.

TOC French (very rare in English — c.f. Thomas de Quincey, Conan Doyle, O. Henry) m. n. 1853 : an imitation of precious matter ; sham, fake gold or fake piece of jewelry.

“All that glisters is not gold;
Often have you heard that told:
Many a man his life hath sold
But my outside to behold:
Gilded tombs do worms enfold.” William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, 1600. An embellished story with some purpose of deceiving or gaining credibility, a charming anecdote, a half or a white lie.

English 1. TOC or Toc : Table Of Contents. 2. Transnational Organized Crime 3. Tactical Operations Center.

Etymol. and Hist. 1. a) 1496 onomat. (Andrieu de La Vigne, Myst. of Saint Martin, éd. A. Duplat, 79: tic, tac, toc); b) 1834 watch with a toc (Boiste); 2. a) α) 1835 « golden brass (imitating gold) » ([Raspail], loc. cit.); β) 1836 « fake piece of jewelry » (Vidocq, Thieves, t. 2, p. 271); b) 1835 adj. « with no real value » ([Raspail], loc. cit.); c) 1928 « cheek, boldness, courage » (Lacassagne, underworld « milieu » Slang, p. 128: lacking toc); 3. 1880 toc-toc « a little bit daft or mad, a bit of a loony » (Larch. Suppl., p. 126 quoting Rigaud).

TANITOC was born in 1969 where the Ille River meets the Vilaine River, growing up in this neck of the woods. He is later found studying near the Charente waters before moving onto the Clyde docks neighbourhood, then settling on the Kelvin banks for a number of years and, for a while, close to the Liffey meanders. He lives and works in the Loire valley.

His stories have been published by fine houses established on the Seine, the Hudson River, the Saint-Laurent, the Loire and on the confluence of the Spree and the Havel.

Tanitoc runs workshops and takes part in stimulating Bande dessinée projects and events, such as Lingua Comica 3, held on the Kamogawa riverbanks during the Autumn 2008.