Talk:mad as a hatter

Etymology

Could it be that this phrase derives from the Mad Hatter, the character in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland? Or is it vice versa, that the aforementioned character's name was based on this adjective? --BiT 01:38, 22 June 2007 (UTC)

Your second guess is the correct one. SemperBlotto 07:00, 22 June 2007 (UTC)

I found a nice 1857 quote from Tom Brown's Schooldays'. Carroll's book was published in 1865. --EncycloPetey 07:26, 22 June 2007 (UTC)

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mad as a hatter

variant "mad as an atter/adder Please see Snopes.com. --64.105.65.158 23:39, 23 November 2007 (UTC)

That suggestion has apparently been around for more than a century. I suppose Carroll is likely to have known the roots of English pretty well. I wonder if he had in his library an etymological dictionary, like Bailey (1737), and the 1842/3 book that is mentioned. One book using "mad as an adder" is The Lost Ship; or, The Atlantic steamer, by William Johnstoun N. Neale (1843). That might be good support. DCDuring 00:06, 24 November 2007 (UTC)

I think the two expressions are unrelated. The etymology of mad as a hatter is well accepted. - Algrif 13:23, 25 November 2007 (UTC)

Capitalization

Why is the word mercury capitalized? I think the reference is to the metal not the Roman god or the planet. Mscalora 03:30, 29 January 2010 (UTC)