Quizzes & Puzzles3 mins ago
Tin Hat
Anybody know why we call it a 'tin hat' when playing pool and pot all our balls before opponent pots any ?
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For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.My guess is that it is related to the war-time saying: "That's put the tin hat on it!" It was used in situations which involved bringing about the 'end' of something. For example, one of a group of schoolboys stealing apples might have cried: "Here's the farmer...that's put the tin hat on it!" (A similar phrase was 'to put the kybosh on' things.) It was no doubt related to the idea that a tin helmet - otherwise known as a tin hat - was almost certainly the very last item of his uniform a soldier actually put on before going on duty.
I've never actually heard it used in a pool-playing situation, but the above seems a reasonable explanation to describe a total whitewash...ie it's all over.