"tinfoil hat brigade"

[Jonathan Lighter]

Alison is correct, except that "tin hat" was the usual WW I slang term for a steel helmet.

  JL

sagehen <sagehen at WESTELCOM.COM> wrote:
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Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: sagehen
Subject: Re: "tinfoil hat brigade"
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barry asks:

TIN HAT BRIGADE--313 Google hits
TINFOIL HAT BRIGADE--11,100 Google hits\
...
The "tinfoil hat brigade" just came up. Anyone have anything on this? OED
has no hits for "hat brigade."
...~~~~~~~~~
I don't think these are synonymous. "Tin hat" suggests mock or play
soldiers, but "tinfoil hat" I think usually is meant to allude to paranoia
(a reference to the foil's capacity to ward off endangering rays of some
sort). The contexts should either support or refute this view.
AM


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