Sometimes I think about how words in different languages don't match 1:1. Today it's hat - Hut
English "the hat" = German "der Hut" (pronounced, roughly, like "hoot"), more or less.
The thing is, German doesn't use "Hut" as an umbrella term as much as English does "hat". "Eine Kappe" is not ein Hut, while "a cap" is a hat.
Ein Hut must have a brim all around, otherwise it's eine Mütze, not ein Hut.
(cont.)
I'm unsure whether I consider a hard hat to be a hat. It's more of a helmet for me
However, I suspect that an American Jew has an exception for a kippah/yarmulke. I am not one, so let the question for knowledge continue!
What I find most perplexing is how beanies are hats to me, but everything else I consider a hat has some kind of stiffened material.
That's interesting, because I wouldn't count them as caps here, but their own sort of thing, under the general "hat" category.
I've had discussions with my kids on the walk to school about when something is or isn't a hat, and they're not so sure a beanie is a hat
@sortius
Further clarification: German goes like
Kopfbedeckung:
- Hut
- Mütze
-- Schirmmütze aka Kappe
Hüte and Mützen are Kopfbedeckungen( head coverings), and they are mutually exclusive categories. Eine Kappe (which I think is closest to "cap") is eine Mütze, but not every Mütze is eine Kappe.
For the English side I've been going by the list on the English Wikipedia page about "Hat", which also includes knit cap, mitre, kippah, keffiyeh, fez, and turban...
Another fun thing is, that the german "Hut" also means guard, though almost unused in that context outside of "behüten"
But being a swordnerd I'm more exposed to medieval texts calling the guardstances "Hut" :D
Eine Mütze might be a knit cap (aka beanie or toque), a soft cap like a beret, or some kind of cap with a visor - that's eine Schirmmütze, including, but not limited to, a baseball cap.
Bonus: The uniform item known as "side cap" is in German "ein Schiffchen".
That translates to "a little ship".
Oh, thought of one more case: a hard hat isn't a hat in German, but a helmet: ein Schutzhelm.
Schutz = protection... so the term seems kinda weird when you think about it, seeing how protection is generally the purpose of all helmets, maybe apart from historical ceremonial military models, but here we are.
