old hat

1. idiomaticuncountableSomething regarded as very familiar and unoriginal, hackneyed, or out of date.First known use early 20th c.

   Oliver. What was the address about, to begin with? / Willie. Oh, the same old hat—Freedom.

   1920, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, Touch and Go: A Play in Three Acts (Plays for a People’s Theatre; II), London: C[harles] W[illiam] Daniel, […], →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 21

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   We curved through the bright mile or two of the Strip, […] past the Georgian-Colonial vogue, now old hat, past the handsome modernistic buildings in which the Hollywood flesh-peddlers never stop talking money, […]

   1940, Raymond Chandler, chapter 21, in Farewell, My Lovely: A Mystery, Tower Books edition, Cleveland, Oh.; New York, N.Y.: World Publishing Company, published October 1944, page 100

comparative more old hat · superlative most old hat · alternative old-hat

1. idiomaticVery familiar and unoriginal; common, hackneyed, out of date.First known use mid 20th c.

   In fact, monorails are rather old hat.

   1964 July, “The Mythology of Monorails”, in Trains Illustrated, London: Ian Allan Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 1

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

   1946 November 11, “The Theater: New Plays in Manhattan, Nov. 11, 1946 [review of Nöel Coward’s Present Laughter (written 1939)]”, in Time, New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 21 Jul 2013

   [I]t is old hat for a sex scandal to bring down a politician.

   1987 May 8, Elaine Sciolino, “Washington talk: The [Gary] Hart story grips the capital; foreigners amused and baffled”, in The New York Times (B section), New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 09 Oct 2022, page 8

   As for the greeting she [Elizabeth II] and her husband, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, received when they arrived outside the Capitol about 3:30 p.m. – well, based on the size of the crowd, perhaps the queen is old hat.

   2007 May 4, Fredrick Kunkle, Paul Duggan, “Straining for a glimpse of royalty: Queen launches visit in Richmond by offering sympathy over Va. Tech tragedy”, in The Washington Post, Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 19 Feb 2025

   The only real knock against "Mortshall" is that "Rick and Morty get sick of each other and split up for a while" feels kind of old hat at this point—the comic premise of the show requires their relationship to be toxic (because a lot of the humor comes from seeing Rick be a shit and seeing Morty try haplessly to deal with Rick being a shit), and they can only try and sell the illusion that anything is going to change so many times before it starts to get stale.

   2021 September 6, Zack Handlen, “Rick and Morty Ends Its Fifth Season Looking for an Escape Hatch”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 02 Dec 2024

   Synonyms: banal, commonplace, cliché, démodé, passé, unchic, basic, cheugy

plural old hats

1. archaiccountableslangThe female genitalia.

   Old hat; a vvoman's privities: becauſe frequently felt.

   [1788, [Francis Grose], “Hat”, in A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 2nd edition, London: […] S[amuel] Hooper, […], →OCLC

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   I ſhall conclude this learned Note vvith remarking, that the Term Old Hat, is at preſent uſed by the Vulgar, in no very honourable Senſe.

   [1743, Henry Fielding, “The History of the Life of the Late Mr. Jonathan Wild the Great. Chapter VI. Of Hats.”, in Miscellanies, […], volume III, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book II, footnote *, page 140

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

   1980, Erica Jong, chapter XV, in Fanny, Being the True History of the Adventures of Fanny Hackabout-Jones […], New York, N.Y.: New American Library, →ISBN, book I, page 120

   Synonyms: muff, prat

2. archaicbroadlycountablederogatoryslangA woman treated as a sexual partner.

   Top-diver, a Lover of VVomen. An old Top-diver, one that has Lov'd Old-hat in his time.

   [1699], B. E., “Top-diver”, in A New Dictionary of the Terms Ancient and Modern of the Canting Crew, […], London: […] W. Hawes […], P. Gilbourne […], and W. Davis […], →OCLC; reprinted [London]: [Smith, Kay & Co.], 1899, →OCLC, signature M3, recto

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   VVhy, hovv novv, ye piece of old Hat, vvhat are ye muſty? the Jade's as muſty as a ſtale pot of Marmalade of her ovvn making.

   1697, [Thomas] d’Urfey, The Intrigues at Versailles: Or, A Jilt in All Humours: A Comedy, […], London: […] F. Saunders […], P. Buck […], R. Parker […], and H. Newman […], →OCLC, Act IV, scene i, page 40

3. archaicbroadlyslanguncountableSexual intercourse.

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   [S]he very pertly reply'd, She had done that not vvith a Design to affront but to convince me of the Value ſhe had for my Preſent; for that 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 ovvn Puritanical Flock, […]

   1723, Charles Walker, “Letter XI”, in Authentick Memoirs of the Life Intrigues and Adventures of the Celebrated Sally Salisbury. […], London: [s.n.], →OCLC, page 103

   Synonyms: aphrodisia, carnal knowledge, coitus, coition, commerce, commixtion, congress, conjunction