Talk:Mad as a hatter

Wiktionary?
Should this be moved to wiktionary? --68.175.44.30 (talk) 21:14, 2 October 2009 (UTC)


 * It's an adjective. The Wikipedia doesn't do adjectives; it's nouns or verbs. WP is not a usage guide either. This is also a phrase that means insane, so it should be merged there or somewhere else.- Wolfkeeper  15:08, 13 November 2009 (UTC)


 * So.... yup.- Wolfkeeper  15:08, 13 November 2009 (UTC)


 * It's a phrase with a notable history of usage, that is covered by reliable sources, and is beyond what Wiktionary will accept, so no. -- Quiddity (talk) 23:14, 13 November 2009 (UTC)

Rating
We don't have any reliable criteria for rating such an article at WP languages. The rating C class is due to citing only one dictionary for each of the respective etymonogies. If anyone wants to discuss this matter, I would suggest reviewing some similar articles and then going to the talk page of the WP. If someone wants to challenge this specific rating, please go ahead - I'm not gonna discuss this question on the basis of one article. G Purevdorj (talk) 12:28, 21 November 2009 (UTC)

Mad as an adder before 1843?
The earliest use of "mad as an adder" that I can find is in 1843: http://books.google.com/books?id=Uq0QAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA98&dq=%22mad+as+an+adder%22&hl=en&ei=wWYQTffAGcjsOaqvkLsJ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CDoQ6AEwBjge#v=onepage&q=%22mad%20as%20an%20adder%22&f=false --Slashme (talk) 08:38, 21 December 2010 (UTC)

Contradictions
The article states, "The origin of the saying is most likely from the book by Lewis Carroll, "Alice In Wonderland", in which there is, quite frankly, a Mad Hatter who is insane.", however Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was written in 1865, with refrences to both Mad as a Hatter and Mad as an Adder dating around 30 years prior (As even mentioned in the article)

ThymeCypher 02:12, 21 January 2012 (UTC)
 * Three years later, the article is still contradicting itself but in a different way. The lede states unequivocally that the term is derived from instances of mercury poisoning during felt production, but the immediately subsequent Etymology section states that is is one of four possible origins. I have placed a contradiction template. 12.233.147.42 (talk) 22:09, 25 February 2015 (UTC)

Other References
Looking around for other references, I see:
 * https://www.cas.org/news/insights/science-connections/mad-hatter, which references: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2672802
 * http://www.antiquusmorbus.com/English/Occupational.htm, which mentions 'Mad Hatter Syndrome'
 * Did the Mad Hatter have mercury poisoning mention of the mercury poisoning in the context of "Alice in Wonderland"

Remove Korsakoff's
Snopet doesn't mention Korsakoff syndrome, which is caused by alcoholism not mercury. The other source I can not check, but since erethism doesn't mentorn alkohol I think we can safely assume it's all about the mercury. --95.199.12.191 (talk) 11:44, 3 December 2017 (UTC)