"Follow the heedings"

[Baker, John]

        I first encountered "hat hair" in the Calvin & Hobbes newspaper strip.  I don't remember the year, but C&H ran from 1985 to 1996.  If this 1/20/90 Boston Globe article is any indication, it apparently derives from a Totes television commercial:

        >>If it weren't for television advertising, how would we know how
to identify the latest afflictions and disorders that plague
Americans?

        Hat Hair. Seasonal condition in which woolly hats squash women's
hairdos beyond recognition, causing men to shun them and other
women to whisper behind their backs. Hat Hair can be alleviated by
a Totes brand scarf/snood that, when removed, moves men to leer and
exclaim, "Beautiful hair!"<<

John Baker


-----Original Message-----
From: Laurence Horn [mailto:laurence.horn at YALE.EDU]
Sent: Monday, February 17, 2003 6:55 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: "Follow the heedings"


According to a Connecticut official, drivers have been driving safely
during the great Presidents' Day blizzard of 2003, "following the
heedings and warnings".  And another new (to me) word from today's
Times:  the compound _hat hair_, for the "affliction" caused by
compressing one's hair under a tight hat during a winter in which
it's more important to conserve body heat than to look stylish.  (Cf.
also "hood hair.")

Larry