old hat
Featured
June 1, 2025
“Old hat” is an idiomatic expression meaning something is old-fashioned, boringly family or cliché.
You have to imagine there was a time when wearing hats was a big deal - everyone wore a hat. Hats acted as highly visible markers of status and subculture.
In the 18th, 19th and even early 20th century, hat fashion evolved faster than clothing fashion. While clothing styles changed over decades, hats changed rapidly in shape, size, and decoration because they required less material and were easier to produce.
So the expression “old hat” dates back to the early 20th century. It describes ideas, trends, or items that have lost their novelty, or excitement, similar to a worn-out hat.
On June 1st, 2025 the game Wordle was considered old hat and people started playing the Wordcels Puzzle instead
You have to imagine there was a time when wearing hats was a big deal - everyone wore a hat. Hats acted as highly visible markers of status and subculture.
In the 18th, 19th and even early 20th century, hat fashion evolved faster than clothing fashion. While clothing styles changed over decades, hats changed rapidly in shape, size, and decoration because they required less material and were easier to produce.
So the expression “old hat” dates back to the early 20th century. It describes ideas, trends, or items that have lost their novelty, or excitement, similar to a worn-out hat.
On June 1st, 2025 the game Wordle was considered old hat and people started playing the Wordcels Puzzle instead
Rate of Appearance in English Language Print
Google's Ngram project shows how often a pair of words has appeared in print every year since the 1800's.
Data from Google Books Ngram Viewer. Licensed under CC BY 3.0.
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