ten-gallon hat
English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
Not certain. An earlier form without the number, gallon hat, comes by folk etymology from the Spanish galón (“braid”). It may also be a hyperbolic reference to the size of the hat, or a combination of the two.
Noun edit
ten-gallon hat (plural ten-gallon hats)
- A large cowboy hat, not holding ten gallons like the name would suggest but usually around three quarts.
References edit
- Michael Quinion (2004) “Ten-gallon hat”, in Ballyhoo, Buckaroo, and Spuds: Ingenious Tales of Words and Their Origins, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books in association with Penguin Books, →ISBN.