Definition of "latah"

Latah is a condition occurring in Southeast Asia. Otherwise sane, Latahs compulsively imitate every motion once their attention is attracted by snapping the fingers or calling sharply.

1962 , William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch, New York: Grove Press

It seemed to Sir Edwin that this patient, a young man who had never set foot outside England, was suffering from an ailment known as latah – common enough in the Malay archipelago but hitherto unknown, so far as the clinical records – admittedly not very reliable – could advise, in the temperate clime of northern Europe.

1989, Anthony Burgess, The Devil's Mode

Actually, there is a debate among scholars as to whether the latah condition should be regarded as a culture-related "mental disorder" or merely as an "unusual behavior response" found in some cultures.

2003, Wen-Shing Tseng, Clinician's Guide to Cultural Psychiatry, page 116