What does it mean to tossing hat into the ring? Where is the phrase throwing hat into the ring originated from?
‘To throw my hat in the ring’ is an American phrase which means to enter a competition. When you “throw” or “toss” your hat into the ring what you are doing is informing everyone that you are willing to enter a contest and ready to take on anybody from the crowd.
The expression these days is normally used in politics, especially to announce your representation for a political post. When someone throws his hat in or into the ring, he is announcing to the world that he is a candidate in the coming election. In other words, he is contesting.
The phrase originated way back in the early 19th century. The ‘ring’ pertains to the ‘boxing ring’. In the old days whenever someone threw his hat into the boxing ring, it implied that he was challenging the boxer; he was willing to fight the person in the ring.
A well-known boxer, John L. Sullivan, used to go through this ritual every time he fought. After defeating his opponent, Sullivan would toss his hat into the ring. This was a challenge to the people in the audience. If the man who challenged him was able to remain on his feet till the end of the bout, then Sullivan used to give him a prize. They were not too many occasions when he actually had to pay the challenger!
So the original meaning of “tossing the hat into the ring” (in action – not in phrase) was to challenge. It was only in the 19th Century that the expression took on the meaning it has today – announcing one’s political candidacy.
The first use of the phrase was reportedly in the year 1912, when Theodore Roosevelt declared his intent to confront William Howard Taft for the battle of the US presidency. Since then, the phrase ‘throw my hat in the ring’ has caught on. In fact, when Shirley Temple, the former child star declared her candidacy for Congress way back in 1967, the New York Times cleverly declared that she had thrown her ‘curls in the ring.’
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