# The knitted winter hat - what do YOU call it? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 16, 2019, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-knitted-winter-hat-what-do-you-call-it/827901 "2019-01-16T22:32:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-knitted-winter-hat-what-do-you-call-it/827901/1 "2019-01-16T22:32:00Z")
Inspired by [this thread about Long Island students losing their $350 Moncler winter hats.](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=868863) Only the Fox News website that reported the story is calling them “beanies”. Which is just wrong, IMO - beanies are silly skullcaps with propellers. All right, y’all - we got to sort this out. What’s _your_ word for the classic knitted winter hat, with or with out pom-pom? For the record, I call 'em stocking caps. ---
**Author:** ![EscAlaMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/escalamike/32/4177_2.png) [@EscAlaMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EscAlaMike)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-knitted-winter-hat-what-do-you-call-it/827901/2 "2019-01-16T22:34:39Z")
I grew up in Florida. We didn’t have a word for them. I think they were called beanies in Michigan, if I remember correctly. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-knitted-winter-hat-what-do-you-call-it/827901/3 "2019-01-16T22:38:31Z")
I just call them winter hats. I wouldn’t call them “knitted”, because most of them in my family happen to be crocheted. Maybe, if for some reason disambiguation were needed, I’d say “yarn winter hats”, but I’m not sure if that’s ever come up. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-knitted-winter-hat-what-do-you-call-it/827901/4 "2019-01-16T22:50:22Z")
Ski hat/cap. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-knitted-winter-hat-what-do-you-call-it/827901/5 "2019-01-16T22:51:46Z")
Hat. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-knitted-winter-hat-what-do-you-call-it/827901/6 "2019-01-16T22:52:03Z")
Toque ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-knitted-winter-hat-what-do-you-call-it/827901/7 "2019-01-16T22:52:39Z")
Toque. But I grew up in New Hampshire in an area heavily influenced by French Canadians. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-knitted-winter-hat-what-do-you-call-it/827901/8 "2019-01-16T23:10:58Z")
A wool cap. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-knitted-winter-hat-what-do-you-call-it/827901/9 "2019-01-16T23:12:01Z")
Knit cap. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-knitted-winter-hat-what-do-you-call-it/827901/10 "2019-01-16T23:13:29Z")
I think I called them knit hats. But it’s been many years since I lived in a climate in which I wore them. I’m surprised to have just this moment learned that some people do indeed call these stocking caps. In my dialect, a stocking cap must have a long tapering part that hangs down off the head. A hat that fits tightly to the head can’t be a stocking cap. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-knitted-winter-hat-what-do-you-call-it/827901/11 "2019-01-16T23:16:07Z")
Knit cap. If I wanted to get picky about what style of knit cap, I’d call it a Mike Nesmith hat. So you can guess when I was a preteen. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-knitted-winter-hat-what-do-you-call-it/827901/12 "2019-01-16T23:17:09Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > I think I called them knit hats. But it’s been many years since I lived in a climate in which I wore them. > > I’m surprised to have just this moment learned that some people do indeed call these stocking caps. In my dialect, a stocking cap must have a long tapering part that hangs down off the head. A hat that fits tightly to the head can’t be a stocking cap. I said “stocking cap” because it seemed plausible, but honestly I’d probably call it “that thing, that one there, what you call it.” I barely categorize hats beyond “hat”, and honestly I don’t really consider anything without an at least somewhat rigid shape to be a hat at all. If you pull a woman’s stocking over your head bank-robber style, is _that_ a hat? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-knitted-winter-hat-what-do-you-call-it/827901/13 "2019-01-16T23:28:41Z")
[Tossel cap](https://images.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=AwrEePDcvT9cH5MA8bYPxQt.;_ylu=X3oDMTB0N2Noc21lBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNwaXZz?p=tossel+cap&type=ANYS_A06O7_ext_bsf&hspart=Lkry&hsimp=yhs-SF01¶m1=na3P9yVrJGqvPvCsHQc5Sic54LohfTreEsw7ZuroKIofl4mLQb79dWLRqh4tv4gHQfn6ayCZT3Hcnpxv06Em_G4Uzdz-apxTUNKt2dHKkw-GKtnMmm2_AQaW6RzBiCrOoX_IUhdN7pbzj8O_EATijerOusOVMFM_kkAeBqL5EPqQ0yI5zcaHQUt1XP_yb-NfKzkFv9w6jlbwgTsiFIF-XIlv&ei=UTF-8&fr=yhs-Lkry-SF01) ---
**Author:** ![Smudge777](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@Smudge777](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smudge777)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-knitted-winter-hat-what-do-you-call-it/827901/14 "2019-01-16T23:37:02Z")
Beanie in Australia. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-knitted-winter-hat-what-do-you-call-it/827901/15 "2019-01-16T23:39:21Z")
Given the relative absence of snow here, that no Aussie kid in history has ever worn a propeller cap except at gunpoint, and finally in Strine the use of latin and french words are \*non de rigueur \*they are known here without exception as [beanies](https://aflvic.com.au/fightmnd-beanies-on-sale/). Why would you want to use two words when one does the job? ---
**Author:** ![MoonMoon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonmoon/32/2959_2.png) [@MoonMoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoonMoon)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-knitted-winter-hat-what-do-you-call-it/827901/16 "2019-01-16T23:39:38Z")
Hat. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-knitted-winter-hat-what-do-you-call-it/827901/17 "2019-01-16T23:58:09Z")
It’s a [Watch Cap](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=watch+cap&hvadid=3527171874&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvqmt=e&tag=mh0b-20&ref=pd_sl_57dnav9y2l_e) ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2019, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-knitted-winter-hat-what-do-you-call-it/827901/18 "2019-01-17T00:03:27Z")
Stocking cap ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2019, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-knitted-winter-hat-what-do-you-call-it/827901/19 "2019-01-17T00:04:51Z")
It’s a [Watch Cap](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=watch+cap&hvadid=3527171874&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvqmt=e&tag=mh0b-20&ref=pd_sl_57dnav9y2l_e) ---
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2019, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-knitted-winter-hat-what-do-you-call-it/827901/20 "2019-01-17T00:05:53Z")
Watch Cap here in Southern California. Or knit hat. A beanie was what [Beany Boy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beany_and_Cecil) wore, hence the name. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-knitted-winter-hat-what-do-you-call-it/827901.md?page=2)