Word of the Day

verb

Unable to resist the temptation to show off, the young pilot decreased altitude and flat-hatted over the county fairground.

Legend has it that the term "flat-hat" originated with an incident back in the days of barnstormers in which a pedestrian’s hat was crushed by a low-flying airplane. According to one version of the tale, the reckless pilot was subsequently required to purchase a new hat for the hapless pedestrian. It seems unlikely that such an event actually took place, but we can well imagine how fear of having one’s hat smashed flat by a passing airplane might have given rise to such a vivid verb. "Flat-hat" first appeared in English in 1940; another word for flying low to the ground, "hedgehop," debuted 14 years earlier.

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