Did the phrase "Talking out of your hat" originate as a reference to Joseph Smith reading the golden plates?

Question

Not trying to offend the LDS, just curious about the origin of the expression.

Answer 1

'To talk through one's hat' was apparently a widespread idiom by the late 1880s meaning 'to talk nonsense,' although it initially seems to have carried the added connotation of 'to lie.' The precise logic and origins of the phrase are unclear. One theory, perhaps reflecting the earlier 'to lie' meaning, maintains that the phrase refers to men in church who hold their hats over their faces while feigning prayer. Another possibility is that the phrase refers, as you say, to the emptiness of the hat atop one's head, as if one were thinking and speaking with an empty head. It's also possible that 'talk through one's hat' is an oblique reference to another phrase, 'to talk off the top of one's head,' meaning to speak speculatively, without thorough consideration."

Well, the phrase seems to have appeared in 1880s and Joeseph Smith was murdered in 1844, but I would doubt it.

Answer 2

No one seems to know just how that phrase originated. Long before Smith used his seer stones and talked through his hat about what he saw with them, scores of others were also doing so and "seeing" all sorts of things. Since what they saw didn't always check out, this practice of using seer stones and a hat may have indeed been the origin of this term. There's no reason to connect it with Smith or the good LDS folks in particular, though.

"Joseph Smith would put the seer stone into a hat, and put his face in the hat, drawing it closely around his face to exclude the light; and in the darkness the spiritual light would shine. A piece of something resembling parchment would appear, and on that appeared the writing. One character at a time would appear, and under it was the interpretation in English. Brother Joseph would read off the English to Oliver Cowdery, who was his principal scribe, and when it was written down and repeated to Brother Joseph to see if it was correct, then it would disappear, and another character with the interpretation would appear. Thus the Book of Mormon was translated by the gift and power of God, and not by any power of man." (David Whitmer, An Address to All Believers in Christ, 1887, p. 12.)"

Answer 3

Probably not, though the origin of the idiom "talking through one's hat" is not at all clear. It was in common usage by the 1880s, and Joseph Smith claimed to have translated the golden plates in 1829, so it's possible (though unlikely) that they are related in some way.

Answer 4

Talking Through Your Hat

Answer 5

I don't think they are related, the terms and the use of the hat.

It's weird all mormons don't wear hats, though. Hats would seem important.

Answer 6

no!!!!!!!!!!!!!