# Your Name for a Cap of Knitted Yarn... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 12, 2011, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-name-for-a-cap-of-knitted-yarn/585256 "2011-06-12T22:36:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2011, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-name-for-a-cap-of-knitted-yarn/585256/1 "2011-06-12T22:36:27Z")
… or other similar [fiber](http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/10975486/2/istockphoto_10975486-winter-toboggan-cap.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-10975486-winter-toboggan-cap.php&h=380&w=306&sz=82&tbnid=uSl6vNAUw9DRUM:&tbnh=104&tbnw=84&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dtoboggan%2Bcap%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=toboggan+cap&hl=en&usg=__uB9ld8btr-ERthpjaCj0aMWwBXo=&sa=X&ei=lj71TZW1DMf3gAeNo9nJCw&ved=0CIsBEPUBMAg&dur=1460). I grew up in southwest Virginia in the 1970s and we always called them “toboggans”. I’ve never heard anyone outside of that area refer to them as such, and always get perplexed looks when I do so. If you don’t mind, please post the term you use and when and where you learned it. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2011, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-name-for-a-cap-of-knitted-yarn/585256/2 "2011-06-12T22:43:17Z")
I say toboggan, with watch cap as an alternate. Knit cap if I suspect the person I’d be addressing or describing to didn’t know the first two. In Alabama where I spent the 40’s and 50’s it was toboggan. Less so in Tennessee where knit cap is probably the norm. I think I learned watch cap at OJ’s trial! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2011, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-name-for-a-cap-of-knitted-yarn/585256/3 "2011-06-12T22:52:23Z")
A toque of course! Watch cap can also be acceptable, but toque won’t get you any weird looks. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2011, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-name-for-a-cap-of-knitted-yarn/585256/4 "2011-06-12T22:56:29Z")
I think toboggan first, but if I recall correctly, folks around here use other terms, like winter hat/cap or knit hat/cap. My Daddy probably would have used watch cap. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2011, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-name-for-a-cap-of-knitted-yarn/585256/5 "2011-06-12T23:00:04Z")
Beanie. Knit hat/cap is acceptable, although it seems like a generic retail term. Kind of like how nobody actually says “soft drink” but soda instead. Or pop, which is probably the same group of people who say toboggan, a term I never even heard before. Toboggan means a sled. Tuque is acceptable if you’re Canadian, but I’m not. A watch cap is similar to a beanie, but I picture it as a shrunken one, with a folded up “brim,” and just barely covering the hair. A stocking cap is a nylon stocking used by robbers. A ski hat (cap) is like a balaclava, worn by terrorists/bank robbers. ---
**Author:** ![YaraMateo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/58f4c7/32.png) [@YaraMateo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaraMateo)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2011, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-name-for-a-cap-of-knitted-yarn/585256/6 "2011-06-12T23:09:18Z")
Another vote for beanie. Also, toboggan means sled here, too. I’ve heard skully before. Those usually refer to the things they give to babies in the hospital. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2011, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-name-for-a-cap-of-knitted-yarn/585256/7 "2011-06-12T23:37:12Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Beanie. Knit hat/cap is acceptable, although it seems like a generic retail term. It can be a _ski cap_ when it has a little ball on top, but it definitely cannot be a _beanie_ if it does. Any term related to snow or skiing can have the little ball on top, but only those terms. The little ball on top is important, and should have been part of the poll choices. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2011, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-name-for-a-cap-of-knitted-yarn/585256/8 "2011-06-12T23:48:18Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Beanie. Knit hat/cap is acceptable, although it seems like a generic retail term. Kind of like how nobody actually says “soft drink” but soda instead. Or pop, which is probably the same group of people who say toboggan, a term I never even heard before. Toboggan means a sled. > > Tuque is acceptable if you’re Canadian, but I’m not. A watch cap is similar to a beanie, but I picture it as a shrunken one, with a folded up “brim,” and just barely covering the hair. A stocking cap is a nylon stocking used by robbers. A ski hat (cap) is like a balaclava, worn by terrorists/bank robbers. See, I call that a ski mask. A hat doesn’t cover the face in my world. Of course, in my world, anything you wear on your head in the winter is a “winter hat,” regardless of style, pompoms, earflaps, etc. I acquired “toque” as the more specific term for the hat described in the OP during the 2010 Olympics, having had no previous word for this, but I’d never use it around here (Maryland) because nobody would have a clue. So I just think it and keep saying “winter hat.” I think I would probably not understand several of the terms in the poll. Chook? Skully? Watch cap? No clue. A toboggan is a sled, a skull cap is a yarmulke, and a beanie has a propeller on it. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2011, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-name-for-a-cap-of-knitted-yarn/585256/9 "2011-06-12T23:54:02Z")
I use several of them interchangeably, and I suppose when I’m reading I should make note of the distinctions! ---
**Author:** ![FeAudrey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7feea3/32.png) [@FeAudrey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FeAudrey)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-name-for-a-cap-of-knitted-yarn/585256/10 "2011-06-13T00:30:16Z")
“beanie” drives me nuts. A beanie is a felt skullcap. There is no other word for it, but plenty, as the OP has demonstrated, for a knit cap. Being old enough to remember when beanies were worn, I voted for (the equally retro) “watch cap”. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-name-for-a-cap-of-knitted-yarn/585256/11 "2011-06-13T00:39:47Z")
Touque, eh? 🙂 ---
**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:** [June 13, 2011, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-name-for-a-cap-of-knitted-yarn/585256/12 "2011-06-13T00:52:55Z")
I call it ‘tuque’ because I live within walking distance of the Peace Arch, and voted so. When I was a kid I called them ‘watch caps’, but only the black ones. Dad was in the Navy, so they were ‘Navy watch caps’. That’s what he called them. I’ve also called them ‘knit caps’. FWIW, the one I wear most often is one Roomie made for me a year or so ago. It’s dark green and matches my Winter jacket. Before that, and still, when I don’t wear the handmade one, I wear a red one. ---
**Author:** ![Electric\_Warrior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Electric\_Warrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electric_Warrior)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-name-for-a-cap-of-knitted-yarn/585256/13 "2011-06-13T01:31:30Z")
Can be a beanie or a skullcap. ---
**Author:** ![Critical\_Mass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@Critical\_Mass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical_Mass)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-name-for-a-cap-of-knitted-yarn/585256/14 "2011-06-13T02:11:35Z")
I didn’t realize there were many different names. The term Touque is ubiquitous in Canada. To ask the question in Canada would be rather like asking Americans what the wide brimmed cap baseball players wear is called. ---
**Author:** ![Kiwi\_Fruit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kiwi_fruit/32/12_2.png) [@Kiwi\_Fruit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiwi_Fruit)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-name-for-a-cap-of-knitted-yarn/585256/15 "2011-06-13T02:37:25Z")
Beanie for me now, but I also used knitted cap when I was younger (now 55) and would recognise watch cap as a term for the same item. ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-name-for-a-cap-of-knitted-yarn/585256/16 "2011-06-13T02:38:30Z")
Ski hat (never cap). As **chizzuk** says, if it covers your face, it’s a ski mask. I grew up in Maryland (D.C. metro). ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-name-for-a-cap-of-knitted-yarn/585256/17 "2011-06-13T03:08:25Z")
A toboggan is a sled. It’s always been a stocking cap for me. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-name-for-a-cap-of-knitted-yarn/585256/18 "2011-06-13T03:15:45Z")
I call it at watch cap. It was my headwear of choice during the run of the TV show _Then Came Bronson_. ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-name-for-a-cap-of-knitted-yarn/585256/19 "2011-06-13T03:18:00Z")
Touque for anything I’d go sledding in. A watch cap doesn’t cover the ears. (If anyone knows where to buy a felted wool watch cap please let me know. I bought two more than a decade ago in the old-man hat section of Burlington Coat Factory and haven’t seen them since.) ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-name-for-a-cap-of-knitted-yarn/585256/20 "2011-06-13T03:20:47Z")
It’s a toque, and it’s for wintertime. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-name-for-a-cap-of-knitted-yarn/585256.md?page=2)