to go cap in hand to someone

[canadalynx]

Hello.

Do you still use this expression "to go cap/hat in hand to someone"?

 

[Tdol]

I do.

 

[probus]

I might well use it. But I am old, so perhaps it is outmoded. (Cross-posted with Tdol.)

 

[5jj]

I am old

I sometimes wonder what the average age of our mods and long-serving members is. I know that TheParser and one of our mods are in their 80s; I am 75. . I doubt if many of us are under 60. I suppose it's inevitable that few of us should be in the first flush of youth. Younger people don't generally have the time to commit themselves to regular responses.

One advantage of this is that we have years of experience under our belts. A disadvantage - one that I'm aware of with myself - is that we can be a little out of touch with the language of younger people.

 

[probus]

As an oldster I've found that I know a great deal about how things used to be and not so much about how they are now.

It's a problem not exclusive to the elderly. Enough time has elapsed that I hope to be forgiven for posting the following story again. My daughter who is in her early 40s had a twenty-year-old explain to her that "netflix and chill" does not mean to relax and watch television as she had imagined. It means to have sex.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I always hear hat, not cap. Maybe it's a U.S. thing.

 

[emsr2d2]

I doubt if many of us are under 60.

How very dare you?! :lol: I've got a little while to go before I hit 60! I still hear/use "to go cap in hand".

 

[Tdol]

They are both in fine fettle and on the rise according to Ngrams.

And I still have a few months to go before sixty.

 

[Tdol]

I always hear hat, not cap. Maybe it's a U.S. thing.

We're too poor for hats in the UK. ;-)

 

[canadalynx]

I think "to go cap in hand" is BrE whilst "to go hat in hand" is AmE.

@Tdol Thanks for another expression there, "in fine fettle".

Thank you for the inputs.
Young or old, let's all stay in fine feather.

 

[Tdol]

I think "to go cap in hand" is BrE whilst "to go hat in hand" is AmE.

That seems to be the case- I have never heard a BrE speaker use hat, but I have heard AmE speakers us it, and Charlie's post confirms this.

 

[probus]

We're too poor for hats in the UK. ;-)

How times change! In my London days every City man wore a bowler hat. Along with the striped trousers and brolly it was an absolute uniform.

 

[Skrej]

I've heard the expression, but have never used it. At the moment, I can't think what expression I would use in its place, though.

 

[5jj]

How times change! In my London days every City man wore a bowler hat

My (possibly faulty) memory tells me that when I commuted from Winchester to Waterloo in 1972 I was one of the few males not wearing a bowler. When I briefly commuted again in 1981, there were very few bowlers to be seen.

 

[Tdol]

Culture is preserved at the fringes- the Peruvian women who wear bowler hats were, apparently, taken with the hats the British engineers wore, who were there to build the train lines.

 

[canadalynx]

I am not a teacher.

On the fringes.

Interesting.

I think people use "Beg someone for something" with exaggeration to express " to go cap/hat in hand to someone" these days.

Examples :
1. I'm broke and I need money. I'll have to go cap/hat in hand to my parents.
2. I'm broke. I'll have to beg my parents for money.

Both sentences give me the same idea or effect.

 

[probus]

on the fringes.

Interesting.

I think people use "Beg someone for money/forgiveness" with exaggeration to express the idea these days.

Please start every sentence with a capital letter: "On the fringes". Also "beg" does not necessarily indicate that the user is literally begging. For example, when we disagree with an opinion we often say "I beg to differ."

 

[canadalynx]

Oh dear, I must have overlooked it.
"On the fringes".

Yes. I am aware of it. Thank you.

I am not a teacher.

 

[Tdol]

I am not a teacher.

On the fringes.

I would say it depends on the way you are viewing the fringes.