Question

Mad as a Hatter completely crazy, strange, eccentric

Accepted Answer

Sean is as mad as a hatter, but he's my most interesting friend. Lewis Carroll created the character of the Mad Hatter in his classic book Alice in Wonderland. The expression "mad as a hatter" comes from the early 1800s. One possible origin is a snake called an adder. People in England thought that if you were bitten by an adder, its poison would make you insane. Some people pronounced "adder" as "atter," so if you acted crazy, you were as "mad as an atter," which later became "hatter." Another explanation of the expression's origin is that people who worked in felt-hat factories in the 1800s inhaled fumes of mercuric nitrate, and, as a result, developed twitches, jumbled their speech, and grew confused. The condition was sometimes mistaken for madness and may have given birth to the saying "mad as a hatter."

Idiom	Mad as a Hatter
Example	Sean is as mad as a hatter, but he's my most interesting friend.
Meaning	completely crazy, strange, eccentric
Origin	Lewis Carroll created the character of the Mad Hatter in his classic book Alice in Wonderland. The expression "mad as a hatter" comes from the early 1800s. One possible origin is a snake called an adder. People in England thought that if you were bitten by an adder, its poison would make you insane. Some people pronounced "adder" as "atter," so if you acted crazy, you were as "mad as an atter," which later became "hatter." Another explanation of the expression's origin is that people who worked in felt-hat factories in the 1800s inhaled fumes of mercuric nitrate, and, as a result, developed twitches, jumbled their speech, and grew confused. The condition was sometimes mistaken for madness and may have given birth to the saying "mad as a hatter."

Mad Hatter People Crazy Origin Sean Interesting Friend