Here's the story behind the story...
I coined the acronym SMAT when I worked for Meguiar's because there was no acronym at the time and there were only loose descriptive terms being used to describe the new abrasive technology. The words from R&D and the Training Department were that the new compounds and polishes used Super Microscopic Abrasives.
That spells
SMA
Which doesn't make a word you want to say, so I added a T for Technology and SMAT was born.
It also worked for Diminishing Abrasives which up to that point I always typed or referred to as just
diminishing abrasives but now with SMAT as an acronym it was only natural to at the word Technology after Diminishing Abrasives and the new forum lingo for referring to the two types of abrasives became
SMAT and
DAT.
Because I type a lot of articles and replies about products and process both here and my old stomping grounds MOL, it was pretty easy to establish the acronym for the two different abrasives and that's how we got to where we are now.
Originally I thought I coined the term/acronym
DAT and when I started using it I
didn't know another gentleman had used the acronym previously, but with a little searching I found the first use of the acronym
here,
May 17th, 2006
Meguiar's DAT in M-85 works just wonders!
It has a perfect cutting action, when the diminishing abrasives break down you just have to be gentle with the pressure and it leaves a perfect finish without swirls!
I never knowingly steal anyone else's work and claim it as my own and believe in giving due credit where credit is due, so to my knowledge the above is where DAT first started being used to describe Diminishing Abrasive Technology but it could also be an acronym on another forum older than the time stamp above.
I'm pretty confident on the origins of SMAT however as at the time the SMAT products were being introduced I was the guy typing out the announcements for the products and answering the first waves of questions while the rest of the crew were at SEMA
Besides all of the above... I just plain became tired of typing out
Super Microscopic Abrasive Technology and
Diminishing Abrasive Technology.
Also to my knowledge, the terms SMAT and DAT are not formally trademarked, but I haven't checked or asked anyone that would know.
Now to bring the thread back on topic, I talked with David G. about the abrasive technology and what I posted was directly from him and that is that both these new Optimum Spray-on products are in fact SMAT products unless somethings changed since our phone call conversation yesterday.
