I love the word "proverbial", however a lot of the references about it elude me. What do people mean when they say "proverbial hat?" Also, what are some common usages of proverbial? Do you ever use it? I want to understand the term better basically. Proverbial hat, proverbial foot, proverbial that, proverbial this... I think I'm getting the proverbial headache.

Help, wordsmiths!

Your servile servant,

Logwood

If it's not being used ironically or comically it is being used to refer to something referenced in some proverb or at least some cliche. One might speak of the proverbial ten-foot pole that one wouldn't touch something with. What the proverbial hat might be I couldn't say.

Quote:[As the old
cowboy saying goes: "The hat is the last thing you take off and the first thing that is noticed."]
(see for fine performance of this saying : Clint Eastwood)

In contrast to the Dutch proverb:" With your hat in your hand you'll get through the entire land."
(meaning politeness gets you a long way)

Could this be considered as s a case of proverbial contradiction?

Headaches:
A crown's no cure for a headache.
Every head has its own headache.

The only hat proverb I know is "at the drop of a hat" meaning with very little encouragement. Any idea wherE it comes from?

In many cases, you would need to know the context of the conversation as there are multiple possibilities. The proverbial shoe may be on the other foot, be about to drop, may fit so you can wear it, etc.

asked with hat in hand
keep it under your ~
you're talking through your ~!

-joe (~s off) friday

p.s. - don't mistake your wife/husband for a hat.

You said you knew two, did the second one get lost between the two threads? :)oops the other one was of course:'Talk through your hat'. Scuse.

I looked up "At the drop of a head, and it means there "very quickly".

At the drop of a hat - English Idiom Definition. ... Meaning:. If you would do something at the drop of a hat, you'd do it immediately. ...

Do hats drop quickly or does the wind take them up in the air for hours?

Then there's that fine old Texas saying of someone who is more show than substance; all hat and no cattle.