Dick's hatband

English Alternative forms en Nick's hatband Etymology en; theories include reference to some local figure named en Dick or en Nick; to en Satan (cf. en Old Nick and en dickens); and to Richard Cromwell. Noun ? en colloquial now _ principally _ US dated Used in similes as an intensifier, indicating someone or something is extremely strange, tight, etc. en 1742 James Ayres Sancho at Court act III 44 A young Lady, the first or second Day of her Marriage, looks as queer as Dick's Hat-Band. 1796, Francis Grose, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v. "Dick": I am as queer as Dick's hatband; that is, out of spirits, or don't know what ails me. en 2014 C.B. McKenzie Bad Country 108 She's sharp as a tack when she wants to be and still tight as Dick's Hatband about her money. Synonyms See :Category:English intensifiers Derived terms en fine as Dick's hatband queer as Dick's hatband tight as Dick's hatband tighter than Dick's hatband References hatband n 84514 March 2017 "Dick's hatband" in Michael Quinion, Worldwide Words, 23 February 2002. "The Puzzle of Dick's Hatband" in The Economist, 18 January 2011. en intensifiers eponyms