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Tin hat

Posted by SR on September 20, 2004

In Reply to: Tin hat posted by Lewis on September 20, 2004

: : To put the tin hat on something is to finish it off or bring it to an end. To put a kibosh on something has much the same meaning. As we saw in a thread at the beginning of this month, 'kibosh' is likely derived from the Gaelic expression for 'death cap,' as donned by a judge when issuing a death sentence.

: : Does 'tin hat' have a similar origin?

: doubt it. it sounds like a first-world war expression - to be fully uniformed would be to put the tin hat on it - the last piece of kit. I don't think helmets were called 'tin hats' until they were introduced in WWI. there is some difference between traditional helms and the WWI helmets - perhaps the purpose - WWI tin hats replaced cloth 'forage caps' which had superseded pith helmets/berets/cavalry helmets etc for much of the army.
: the introduction of steel helmets actually led to an increase in head injuries - previously the soldiers had just died on the spot.

: Eric Bogle's 'The Band Played Waltzilg Matilda' mentions the 'tin hat.'
: "Now when I was a young man I carried me pack
And I lived the free life of the rover.
From the Murray's green basin to the dusty outback,
Well, I waltzed my Matilda all over.
Then in 1915, my country said, "Son,
It's time you stop ramblin', there's work to be done."
So they gave me a tin hat, and they gave me a gun,
And they marched me away to the war.

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