queer as Dick's hatband
- idiom
- Archaic
:
raro
- Her style of decorating was queer as Dick's hatband, but it certainly captured everyone's attention.
Examples
-
People say his theories are queer as Dick's hatband, but sometimes odd ideas prove to be right.
-
That explanation is queer as Dick's hatband!
-
The whole business sounded queer as Dick's hatband to the council committee.
-
This situation feels queer as Dick's hatband to me.
-
Her style of decorating was queer as Dick's hatband, capturing everyone's attention with its uniqueness.
-
People say his theories are queer as Dick's hatband, making some question their validity due to their oddness.
-
The whole business sounded queer as Dick's hatband, leaving the council committee puzzled and bewildered.
Synonyms
∞
2.3
Unusual and slightly odd in a way you cannot easily understand
∞
3.2
Strange or unusual in a way that makes people feel uncomfortable
798
1.0
Different from what is normal or expected
406
5.9
Very strange or unusual in a way that surprises people
18
9.1
Strange or unusual in a way you notice
3
9.3
Strange and amusing in how a person or thing looks and acts
Strange and sometimes a little shocking
Slightly strange in a small, gentle way
People often do strange or surprising things
Antonyms
How Strange
Surface Forms
Morphology
Although the comparative frame 'queer as ...' is transparent as a simile and 'queer' is known, the referent 'Dick's hatband' is an idiosyncratic cultural phrase with no predictable link to the meaning 'very strange'. Knowing the literal words ('Dick' and 'hatband') does not enable a B1 learner to derive the intensified idiomatic sense, so the expression is non-compositional and unpredictable.
Etymology
Queer as Dick's hatband may come from a story about a man called Dick who wore a very odd hatband that everyone noticed, so people used the phrase to mean someone clearly 'odd'. That's why it now means 'very strange'.