The whim of a hat

Today's word of the day is "hat," which is so useful in bigger words like "hathead" and friendly suggestions like "Go shit in your hat!"

"I’ll bet my hat," "I’ll eat my hat," "hold onto your hat," "pass the hat," "hat trick," "talking through your hat," "my hat's off to you," and "pull a rabbit from a hat" are familiar enough, but I like the sound of the more obscure "go-to-hell hat." According to the Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang, a "go-to-hell hat" is "an overseas or garrison cap." I have no idea what that means, so let's just move on to my favorite hat word: "asshat. " An "asshat" is basically an asshole, but specifically one who has his head up his ass.

Speaking of asshats, the real inspiration for today's word was the latest from Jacob Weisberg's Bushisms list. Thanks to President Bush, I now know more about hats than I ever could have imagined. I just hope my hat doesn't get any funny ideas:

"Free societies are hopeful societies. And free societies will be allies against these hateful few who have no conscience, who kill at the whim of a hat."