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You are here: Home / Language / What Does “Put On Your Thinking Cap” Mean and Where Did the Expression Come From?

What Does “Put On Your Thinking Cap” Mean and Where Did the Expression Come From?

July 25, 2020 by Karen Hill

Teachers will often tell students to “put on their thinking caps” when they want them to take time to think things over.

Caps have been associated with academics, jurists, scholars, and clerics for centuries.

One of the most familiar of these caps is the mortarboard worn at graduation, so called for its similarity to the instrument used by bricklayers.

In the seventeenth century, English judges wore a “considering cap” while pondering a sentence.

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Filed Under: Language

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

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