Know Your English (July 2001)

Know your English

What is the meaning of the expression ``talk through one's hat"?

This is what our politicians do most of the time. And what is it that our elected officials are famous for? They have the tendency to give lengthy speeches/talks on subjects that they know nothing about. So when you ``talk through your hat" what you are actually doing is talking about something as if you know a lot about it, when in fact you know nothing about it. When you talk through your hat, you talk nonsense. Here are a few examples.
*Our not so beloved Professor was as usual talking through his hat.
*Jayashree was talking through her hat. She doesn't know anything about chemistry.
*Stop talking through your hat Sunila!
This expression is considered to be rather old fashioned. Another expression, which has the same meaning, is ``talk through the back of one's head". Here are a few examples.
*Sidhu talks through the back of his head most of the time.
*Pooja as usual was talking through the back of her head.
Can the first Principal of a college be called the ``founder Principal" - though he is not the one who founded the college? (Dr. C. Venkatramaiah, Tirupati)The word ``founder" is normally used with people who have established a business, school, college, etc. In your example, the Principal did not establish the college; he was merely appointed its first Principal. Perhaps the ``founder" appointed him Principal! You can refer to the individual as the ``first Principal" and not the ``founder Principal".


Source:
The Hindu daily, Tuesday, July 31, 2001