“At the Drop of a Hat” | Origin and Meaning
Nội Dung Chính
At the Drop of a Hat (Origin)
by Craig Shrives
What Is the Origin of the Saying “At the Drop of a Hat”?
The term “at the drop of a hat” means willing or able to do something immediately.
Table of Contents
- English Proverbs and Idioms Test
- More Proverbs, Sayings, and Idioms
The term “at the drop of a hat” means willing or able to do something immediately.
Examples of Use:
- We’re all packed. We can leave
at the drop of a hat
.
- I cannot produce that report
at the drop of a hat
. I have to gather data.
- Don’t cross them. They would sue you
at the drop of a hat
.
- I’d take that offer
at the drop of a hat
.
This
Competing Theory
“At the drop of a hat” originates from fairground boxing in the 1800s. A challenger to the fairground champion would throw his hat into the boxing ring to signal that he wants to enter into the fight. (Without a hat, the challenger was easily spotted in the crowd as he made his way into the ring.)
A quick look at
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English Proverbs and Idioms Test
This idiom originates from the late 1800s, when it was common to signal the start of a horse race by dropping a hat. This practice was particularly common in Ireland, which is the likely country of origin.”At the drop of a hat” originates from fairground boxing in the 1800s. A challenger to the fairground champion would throw his hat into the boxing ring to signal that he wants to enter into the fight. (Without a hat, the challenger was easily spotted in the crowd as he made his way into the ring.)A quick look at Google’s Ngram Viewer , which scans millions of books published over the last two centuries, tells us that the term was first used in a published article in the 1830s but did not start become common language until the 1930s.
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