hang on to your hat

1. Also, hold your hat. An expression warning someone of a big surprise. For example, Hang on to your hat, we're about to go public, or Hold your hat—we just won the lottery. This expression may allude, according to lexicographer Eric Partridge, to a wild ride on a rollercoaster. [Colloquial; first half of 1900s]

Example Sentences

“Hang on to your hat,” Benjamin Gedan, director of the Latin America Program at the Washington-based Wilson Center, told The Associated Press by phone.

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From the top, hang on to your hat, and drink in the view of Deadman’s Cove, right next door!

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Top speed with the top down is 196 mph, so hang on to your hat.

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“I mean, for us, when we have one or less, we have played at an incredibly high level. When we’ve had two or more — hang on to your hat.”

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Hang on to your hat, because there is now a jumbo jet designed to look like lovable droid R2-D2.

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