hats off

English

Etymology

Ellipsis of a form of take one's hat off to.

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Interjection

hats off

1. (idiomatic, as imperative, with to) Congratulations

   Hats off to the Jamaican bobsled team for their able representation of their country in the Olympics against serious obstacles.

   • 2020 December 16, “Stop & Examine”, in Rail, page 71:

     Hats off to Avanti West Coast staff at Crewe station, who found a simple but highly effective way to raise money for charity during the Coronavirus epidemic.

Translations

Congratulations

• Czech: klobouk dolů
• French: chapeau bas (fr), chapeau ! (fr)
• German: Hut ab! (de); Chapeau! (de)
• Hungarian: le a kalappal
• Japanese: 脱帽 (ja) (datsubō)
• Polish: chapeau bas (pl), czapki z głów, klękajcie narody (pl)
• Spanish: quitar el sombrero (pronominal), sacar el sombrero (pronominal, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Peru)

References

• “hats off to”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.