At the drop of a hat?

Reader question:

Please explain “at the drop of a hat” in this sentence: Some people seem to cry at the drop of a hat, while others rarely shed a tear.

My comments:

Some people get teary-eyed readily, while others rarely shed a tear.

Some people cry a lot more easily than others, in other words.

Why is that?

Well, people are different. Take watching a movie for example. Some people get choked up with emotion easily. Whenever anyone in the film cries, some people in the audience start sniffling.

Other people in the audience remain unmoved, of course. And they wonder: What’s with all this sniffling and snuffling about? What’s going on?

As I said, people are just different. Some people are more empathetic than others, for instance. They get emotional when they see others get emotional.

Some people, on the other hand, are more stoic. They don’t show emotions as easily. It’s not that there are cold and emotionless. It’s just that they are, well, stoic, for lack of a better word.

Stoic?

That means self-controlled and patient, being able to accept pains and hardships, for example, without complaint, without showing emotion.

Anyways, instead of dwelling on the fact that some people cry way more easily than others, let’s talk a little more about the idiom “at the drop of a hat”.

This is a sporting term in origin. In horse racing, prize fighting (boxing in the old day) and some other contests, the umpire or referee waves his hat to draw everyone’s attention. He then drops the hat to signal the start of the race or fight.

At the drop of the hat, literally, the race or fight commences.

Immediately, that is, without delay.

Likewise, figuratively, if something happens at the drop of a hat, it happens immediately without fuss.

In the news, back in May, I read a quote to the effect that the United States, having tried and failed time and again to bring about a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, got tired of it.

The State Department put out a statement, saying the United States would no longer “fly around the world at the drop of a hat” to arrange meeting and negotiations.

Oh, well, for better or worse.

To sum up, “at the drop of a hat” is descriptive of any action that is performed immediately, without hesitation or block.

Let’s read a few media examples culled from over the years:

1. We Irish are a garrulous folk, given to long-winded debates at the drop of a hat on just about any subject from politics to how one should brew a pot of tea. There’s one thing however, on which just about every Irish man and woman will concur. One of the best places to meet and swap a tale or two is the neighborhood local. Pub that is.

According to Bushmill’s Irish Pub Guide there are 11,000 pubs scattered about Ireland. Scattered is perhaps a poor choice of word. At the end of the nineteenth century, Madame de Bovet, a visiting French writer, ended her description of a country town’s bustling market street with “at every three doors [there was] a tavern.” In the intervening years, a few more have opened.

The Irish have been brewing and distilling potent potables forever.

Long ago, people kept bees to make mead from a fermentation of honey, water and herbs – it was the hero’s drink. St. Brigid, who was known far and wide for the bounty that flowed from her kitchen and the fine ale that flowed from her brewery, is said to have given a cup of mead to the King of Leinster when he visited her convent. Evidently His Majesty was overwhelmingly impressed with her offering. In return he gave the saintly woman a generous donation of land and money to help with her charities.

Saint Patrick brought his own brewer to Ireland, but it was hardly necessary. The Celts had been mixing up a beer called coirm for a millennium.

In the early Irish epic Tain Bo Culainge, King Conchubar often spent “…a third of his day feasting, a third watching the young warriors wrestle, and a third drinking coirm until he falls asleep.” The size of Celtic storage casks was on an epic scale too. They were as large as houses!

Although anyone in Old Ireland was allowed to brew his own ale, Brehon law stipulated a strict code for those who sold ale in public houses. When the Normans arrived, they instituted regulations to control brewing. Only women were allowed to make ale, and although men owned the ale-houses, women operated them. They offered their customers oysters, smoked salmon and soda bread as well as flagons of frothy ale. In the seventeenth century, the French traveler Jouvin wrote, “If I drink two-pence worth of beer at a public house, I am given as much as I want of bread, meat, butter, cheese and fish.”

The art of distilling alcohol was brought to Ireland from the Mediterranean by missionaries some time around the fifth century. Since it was used mostly for medicinal purposes, its Latin name was aqua vitae or “water of life.” When the phrase was translated into Gaelic it became uisce beatha which the Normans later Anglicized to whiskey.

…

According to a recent story that ran in the San Diego daily paper, facsimiles of traditional Irish pubs are springing up all over England and the United States. While it’s unlikely that they’ll be serving mead or Ireland’s fabulous pub grub, it’s certain they’ll have on hand a selection of fine Irish whiskies and ales, a tap that’s pouring Guinness, and plenty of any local pub’s true treasures-comradery and conversation. Slainte!

- Sláinte! The Pleasures of an Irish Pub, Irish America, September-October issue, 1997.

2. I had an angelic childhood. I was brought up on a sheep farm in Pant Glas, north Wales, with my older brother Ian. My father was a farmer, my mum worked in a school for children with disabilities, and they and my grandparents were in different choirs. There was always singing in the household, pieces of music on the kitchen cupboards.

I’d stand on a table and sing an Elvis song at the drop of a hat. I wasn’t a boy soprano, but I entered into competitions in the Welsh festival, Eisteddfod. That allowed me to think of singing as a career. Any given weekend, you can compete either singing, reciting or playing an instrument.

I was a lad who hadn’t left his square mile. When I went to audition at the Guildhall School of Music, it was my parents’ first time to London, too. Thankfully, I was given a scholarship.

Not knowing a part fills me with dread. But if I’ve done the hard work of learning, be it a simple Schubert or Schumann song or a Fauré or Vaughan Williams, I enjoy it. I like to have a polished nugget ready to go when I open the door of any Opera House.

I fell in love with Hannah [Stone, Terfel’s second wife] the first time she accompanied me on the harp. We met on an S4C Christmas show in Swansea. Then we got married and had two children. That’s what life is really all about: to experience things together. Of course, music plays an important part in that.

…

Singing at King Charles’s coronation was a thank-you to him for being such a strong advocate for music. Three Welsh words were heard for the first time in a coronation. It reached millions of people. The week after I was recognised everywhere.

I always have the memory of my grandparents when I receive accolades. I have a CBE and a knighthood, but I was bowled over to become the second recipient of the Queen’s Medal for Music. My grandparents on my father’s side were huge fans of the royal family. They had memorabilia all over their little Caernarfon cottage.

I’m facing my career slowing down. It’s time I gave something back and I’ll do anything to help Wales thrive. It’s a magnificent country that’s helped me along my journey.

- Bryn Terfel: ‘I’d stand on a table and sing Elvis at the drop of a hat’, TheGuardian.com, March 29, 2025.

3. A lifelong Manchester City fan said she would be “devastated” to lose her season ticket due to changes being introduced by the football club.

From August, season tickets must be used for at least 16 of City’s 19 Premier League home games. The ticket holder must attend 10 or more of these fixtures in person.

Helen Powell, from Todmorden in West Yorkshire, is backing a campaign by supporters’ group Trade Union Blues to have the policy scrapped.

A Manchester City spokesperson said the club would work with fans to come up with appropriate adjustments, adding that supporters could apply for an exemption.

Trade Union Blues has written to the club via law firm Leigh Day, arguing the policy could be seen as discriminatory and unlawful.

It has requested a meeting with club executives.

Mrs Powell said she could have lost her season ticket had the new policy been introduced when she was pregnant last year.

She said she was also worried about the forthcoming season, given that her husband is a shift worker and they have a young baby.

“I just don't think [the policy] fits in the modern world,” said Mrs Powell, who has had a season ticket at Etihad Stadium for 12 years.

“At any point during a weekend, a game could be moved and you’re expected to be able to bend to that.

“People on shift work, people who are carers, people who can’t drop plans at the drop of a hat... we’re the ones that feel like we’re being punished by the club.”

She spoke of how important supporting City was to her.

“When everything’s crazy, when everything’s changing around you, even becoming a mother, it’s that one thing I know – I can go to the game, I can see my mates, watch some football,” she said.

“It shouldn’t be this hard and it feels like [the club is] pushing us further and further away.”

…

A Manchester City spokesperson said: “We understand some supporters may find it difficult to attend 10 matches in person.

“We encourage everyone to see how things go for the first few months of the next season, but if you find yourself missing matches or facing challenging circumstances, the access team are on hand to help.

“They will work with you to try to come up with adjustments.

“You can also apply an exemption where necessary.”

- ‘I’d be devastated if I lost my season ticket’, BBC.com, June 18, 2025.

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About the author:

Zhang Xin is Trainer at chinadaily.com.cn. He has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.

（作者：张欣）