Where did the phrase tighter than Dick's hat band come from?

Answer 1

Cuban Dave T in Birmingham, ALThis phrase was indeed used in the movie "True Grit", but it was in reference to the results of a wound. Rooster Cogburn (The Duke) is interrogating the outlaw Moon after a shootout at the dugout on the whereabouts of Lucky Ned Pepper. Moon has been shot in the leg and Rooster says if he doesn't talk he won't take him to a doctor and "... that leg'l swell up tighter'n dicks hatband ... "

It is a Southern or Southwestern expression, perhaps an 1800's reference to the discomfort experienced by condom users of the day.

Roger H in San Diego

This phrase comes form the movie "True Grit". In the movie, John Wayne is talking to Kim Darby about a judge (who is in charge of expenses for the Marshalls) who is "...tighter than Dick's hatband." when it comes to paying.

In the early fifties my grandmother in northeast Ohio used the phrase to describe someone who was stingy.

Answer 2

It refers to Richard Cromwell, son of Oliver Cromwell. The hatband was the British crown. Richard was one of only two commoners to become the Head of State. He was disparaged as "King Dick" and ruled for only 8 months and "tight as Dick's hatband" was saying a poor fit for the duty

Answer 3

It seems to be an old southern idiom and was used to describe a place that was empty. The name "Dick" could be substituted with any name and nobody knows why that particular name was chosen.

An example of this being used in a sentence is: "I went and checked that place you told me to visit, but they've been closed up tighter than dick's hatband and have been for years."

Answer 4

While some wordsmiths say this expression got its start in England, it mainly became popular in the Southern US. It's an expression for something that is too tight, something a person has outgrown yet is still trying to fit into. Some people also say the expression means someplace that is now empty and locked up tight.

Answer 5

the phrase comes from Oliver Cromwell's son, Richard who assumed some Lord Position in England after his fathers death. He was unfit to wear the crown, so the crown in the phrase is the hat.

Answer 6

It comes from one of englands kings which had a crown that was to tight. His name was king Dick

Answer 7

My Oklahoma relatives used it to descibe a perosn who was really very drunk. I always thought it refered to Dick Tracey in some way.

Answer 8

Dick and Jack and Joe are everyman - the names people use for the common, ordinary fellow on the street.