TTATT

TTATT is an acronym for "The Thing Around The Thing".

This term, first known to be used by Neal Thomison around 1998, refers to the meta issues which surround the topic in question.

In designing software, creating art or negotiating contracts often the context and and implications of the topic on the history and interrelationships at play is often as significant, if not more significant, that the content of the topic itself.