Dictionary

talk through one's hat en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Etymology

Attested from the late 19th century in the United States in the sense of “bluff”; the sense “speak without authority or knowledge” developed later. Although some people speculate a connection to a former requirement that British Members of Parliament wear hats, the connection is implausible.

Meanings

1. (idiomatic) To speak lacking expertise, authority, or knowledge; to invent or fabricate facts.
   • "Mr. Pride said to me a moment ago that they spoke better English in Boston than any other place in the world." "Did he, though, Lady Lawless? That's good. Well, I guess he was only talking through his hat." c. 1900, Gilbert Parker, At The Sign Of The Eagle:
2. (idiomatic) To assert something as true or valid; to bluff.
   • He's conceited and opinionative and argues all the time, even when he knows perfectly well that he's talking through his hat. 1922, P. G. Wodehouse, chapter 14, in Right Ho, Jeeves:
   • No, sir, she yust standing pat, / And vonce more she tal her father, / “Yu ban talking tru yure hat!” 1905, “The Norsk Nightingale”, in Popular Mechanics, page 478:

Forms

Relateds

nonsense · BS

Synonyms

talk through one's ass

Translations (14)

de keinen blassen Schimmer haben (to speak lacking knowledge) · pl mówić jak ślepy o kolorach (to speak lacking knowledge) · nl lullen (to speak lacking knowledge) · de auf den Arm nehmen (to bluff) · fr parler à tort et à travers (to speak lacking knowledge) · de einen Bären aufbinden (to bluff) · es hablar por boca de ganso (to speak lacking knowledge) · kmr ji ber xwe ve gotin (ku) (to speak lacking knowledge) · de wie der Blinde von der Farbe reden (to speak lacking knowledge) · fi puhua läpiä päähänsä (to speak lacking knowledge) · fr parler à travers son chapeau (to speak lacking knowledge) · de zum Narren halten (to bluff) · fi puhua vastoin parempaa tietoaan (to bluff) · sv prata i nattmössan (to speak lacking knowledge)

wikipedia: United States