Re: my hat goes off to you

[thedaffodils]

Hello! Can a woman say "My hat goes off to you", if she refers to the respect to "you"? Thanks!

P.S. I am clear about the meaning of the idiom.

[supada]

Would you mind telling me the meaning of this phrase?

[thedaffodils]

Would you mind telling me the meaning of this phrase?

Hello Supada,

I think it is the variation of the idiom - I take my hat off to you. Here's the excerpt from an online dictionary with its URL link available as below.

took hat off - Idioms - by the Free Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.

I take my hat off to someone (British, American & Australian, American)

something that you say which means that you admire and respect someone for something they have done. I take my hat off to people who do voluntary work in their spare time.I tip my hat to our teachers who've raised standards in the school with very few resources.

[MrPedantic]

That's a very good point. Customarily, in BrE culture at least, only males may doff their headgear as a gesture of respect. Thus while hat-tipping idioms are seemingly available to all speakers, it may seem incongruous or somehow "masculine" for an obviously female speaker to use them.

(It might seem similarly incongruous if an obviously male speaker talked about "handbagging" an adversary in an argument.)

Best wishes,

MrP

[thedaffodils]

Hello Mr. Pedantic,

Thank you for your input.

I'm a woman. Whenever I used it, I couldn't suppress the idea that I might look like a tomboy.

Is there any comparable idiom which sounds feminine or neutral?

Best regards,

TD

[SUDHKAMP]

Hello Mr. Pedantic,

Thank you for your input.

I'm a woman. Whenever I used it, I couldn't suppress the idea that I might look like a tomboy.

Is there any comparable idiom which sounds feminine or neutral?

Best regards,

TD

I have heard people saying "hats off to so and so........ for doing...........".

Thus it becomes neutral. In the first person you can say, "hats off to you Raymott for helping me solve the problem."

[MrPedantic]

1. Hats off to X (for doing Y).

I would agree – as a general adjuration to all those present, it very nicely avoids the sociolinguistic incongruity.

Best wishes,

MrP

[thedaffodils]

SUDHKAMP & Mr Pedantic,

Thank you for your replies.

But I think "hats off to somebody" might sound a bit pompous if an individual just did a favour to another individual. And "hat" in plural in the expression of "hats off" implies that the person was acclaimed by many people or the public.

Eg1 SUDHKAMP and Mr Pedantic often help us to learn English, hats off to them. <==good application of the expression.

Eg2 (In their house, just Dad just gave his daughter a favour.)

Daughter: Dad, could you teach me to ride a bicycle?

Dad: No problem.

Daughter: Hats off to you. (I don't think it is very appropriate since the daughter could not stand for the opinions of the others'. If they didn't have any relatives who might appreciate the father's favour.)

[SUDHKAMP]

Hats off does not always mean that many people would take off their hats to wish or show respect. "Hats off" here means action by a single person or may be many.
It is appropriate to use this term in singular also.

[thedaffodils]

Hats off does not always mean that many people would take off their hats to wish or show respect. "Hats off" here means action by a single person or may be many.
It is appropriate to use this term in singular also.

Hats off to you, SUDHKAMP! I've understood.