mad as a hatter
English
WOTD – 22 June 2007
Etymology
First recorded 1829. Of uncertain origin, though usually explained as referring to hat-makers suffering from Korsakoff's syndrome due to handling mercury-contaminated felt. Derivation from Old English ātor (“poison”) or its descendant English atter lacks evidence.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˌmæd æz ə ˈhætə/
- (US) IPA(key): /ˌmæd æz ə ˈhætɚ/
Audio (US) (file) Audio (AU) (file)
Adjective
mad as a hatter (not comparable)
- Demented or crazy.
- 1857, Thomas Hughes, Tom Brown's Schooldays, Part II, chapter 3,
- He's a very good fellow, but as mad as a hatter. He's called Madman, you know. And never was such a fellow for getting all sorts of rum things about him. He tamed two snakes last half, and used to carry them about in his pocket; and I'll be bound he's got some hedgehogs and rats in his cupboard now, and no one knows what besides.
- 1895, John Kendrick Bangs, A House-Boat on the Styx, chapter 7,
- "I think he’d be as mad as a hatter at your insinuation that he would invite any of his wives, if all I hear of him is true; and what I’ve heard, Wolsey has told me."
- 1904, G. K. Chesterton, The Napoleon of Notting Hill, Book III, chapter 3,
- I think Adam Wayne, who is as mad as a hatter, worth more than a million of you. But you have the force, and, I admit, the common sense, and he is lost.
- 1913, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Poison Belt:
- Once Lord John passed across his newspaper, upon the margin of which he had written in pencil, "Poor devil! Mad as a hatter." No doubt it was very eccentric, and yet the performance struck me as extraordinarily clever and amusing.
- 1920, Agatha Christie, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, chapter 10,
- Sometimes, I feel sure he is as mad as a hatter; and then, just as he is at his maddest, I find there is method in his madness.
- 1939, Agatha Christie, And Then There Were None, chapter 11,
- If you ask me that woman's as mad as a hatter.
- 1857, Thomas Hughes, Tom Brown's Schooldays, Part II, chapter 3,
Synonyms
- disturbed, insane, loopy, nutty
- mad as a March hare
- See also Thesaurus:insane
Related terms
- hatter
- Mad Hatter
Translations
demented or crazy
|