hats off

English

Etymology

Ellipsis of a form of take one's hat off to.

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Interjection

hats off

1. (idiomatic, as imperative, with to) Congratulations

   Hats off to the Jamaican bobsled team for their able representation of their country in the Olympics against serious obstacles.

   • 2020 December 16, “Stop & Examine”, in Rail, page 71:

     Hats off to Avanti West Coast staff at Crewe station, who found a simple but highly effective way to raise money for charity during the Coronavirus epidemic.

Translations

Congratulations

• Czech: klobouk dolů
• French: chapeau bas (fr), chapeau ! (fr)
• German: Hut ab! (de); Chapeau! (de)
• Hungarian: le a kalappal
• Japanese: 脱帽 (ja) (datsubō)
• Polish: chapeau bas (pl), czapki z głów, klękajcie narody (pl)
• Spanish: quitar el sombrero (pronominal), sacar el sombrero (pronominal, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Peru)

References

• “hats off to”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.