English

Noun

old hat ‎(uncountable)

1. (now rare, archaic) The ****; sex. [from 17th c.]
   • 1723, Charles Walker, Memoirs of Sally Salisbury, VI:

     if the Pedantick Blockhead should come, he should only have a little bit of Old-Hat to stay his Stomach, till he got to some Harlot of his own Puritanical Flock, for his Money [...].

   • 1980, Erica Jong, Fanny:

     'Tis a Nest, a Niche, an Old Hat, an Omnibus, an Oyster, a Palace o' Pleasure.

2. (idiomatic) Something with which one is very familiar; something very common, hackneyed or out of date. [from 20th c.]
   • 1946, "New Plays in Manhattan," Time, 11 Nov.,

     Coward is such an old hand at this kind of thing that he makes it seem old hat.

   • 1987, Elaine Sciolino, "Washington Talk: The Hart Story Grips the Capital," New York Times, 8 May (retrieved 21 June 2008),

     It is old hat for a sex scandal to bring down a politician.

   • 2007, Fredrick Kunkle and Paul Duggan, "Straining for a Glimpse of Royalty," Washington Post, 4 May (retrieved 21 June 2008),

     Based on the size of the crowd, perhaps the queen is old hat.

Related terms

• old-hat (adj.)