"tinfoil hat brigade"

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On 2/1/06, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> FWIW, my first encounter with the phrase and concept "tinfoil hat" was
> within the past few years, possibly only since 2000.

http://groups.google.com/group/sci.med/msg/384d892fe9f58773
sci.med, Nov 14 1991
Double blind tests are so tedious.  Why not try a magnet on one arm,
a copper bracelet on the other, a protective tin foil cap and a
garlic amulet around the neck.

http://groups.google.com/group/sci.physics/msg/3ad66ecebb40502d
sci.physics, Oct 8 1992
Larry "I wear this tin-foil hat to protect myself from N-rays" Hammer

http://groups.google.com/group/sci.med/msg/452e0fa1c38f3626
sci.med, Dec 16 1992
>I recommend wearing a hat when you go out into the sun from now on.
Yes, and be sure to line it with tinfoil to keep out the cosmic rays.

http://groups.google.com/group/sci.skeptic/msg/2e8fa5f7dadd24ae
sci.skeptic, Mar 10 1993
Hey, we've ALL got our own tin foil hats. If they aren't a filter for
"secret rays," they're a filter for perception, culture,  or taste.


--Ben Zimmer

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