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The Learning Kingdom's Cool Word of the Day for August 27, 1999
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mad as a hatter
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If someone says you are mad as a hatter, they are accusing you of
being quite irrational. The sense of madness here is "suffering from
a disorder of the mind; insane." This phrase usually refers not to
someone who is actually insane, but rather to a more normal person
who is behaving in an irrational way.
The phrase emerged in England in the 19th century. Hatmakers in
those days used a lot of felt that was treated with chemicals
including lead, arsenic, and mercury.
Unfortunately, those chemicals are highly toxic. The symptoms of such
poisoning include palsy, confused speech, and distorted thinking.
Today, making hats is a much safer profession, but the phrase
survives.
An interesting alternate explanation of the phrase derives hatter from
Anglo-Saxon atter (poison), which is related to adder (a poisonous
snake whose bite was thought to cause insanity).
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