as queer as Dick's hatband

This is the earliest attested variant, and formerly the most common, of the phrase Dick's hatband.

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as queer as Dick's hatband

1. (simile, colloquial, dated, possibly offensive) Very queer (in various senses).
   • 1742, James Ayres, Sancho at Court, Act III, line 44:

     A young Lady, the first or second Day of her Marriage, looks as queer as Dick's Hat-Band.

• See Thesaurus:strange

• Regarding possible offence, see notes at queer.

• “hatband, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, March 2017.