Help me in English language!

[Barbara]

What I always wanted to know:
If you put a thing on your head, when is it called a cap and when is it a hat? I remember having read about "woolen hats" as in knitted. A thing like that in Germany would be a cap (Kappe or Mütze).
However a stiff thing like what today's adorable COTD is wearing would be a hat (Hut).
A baseball hat would always be a cap and never a hat.
I feel that things are sorted differently in English. Looking forward to an intense discussion about top-of-head ornaments

[Edwina's Secretary]

I think of a cap as something more casual than a hat.

Baseball caps are something I think should be worn with the eyeshade shading the eyes instead of the nap of the neck...but that is a whole different discussion.

[Pam]

Barbara I have to congratulate you (and anyone!) who tries to comprehend the English language! It is sometimes a struggle for us for whom it is our native tongue! LOL! That said, I think that something that is sort of "form fitting" on the head might qualify as a cap, while a hat might be more of what Today's Cat is wearing, even though we call it a cap (as in a cap and gown). See what I mean about our language! LOL!

Baseball caps are something I think should be worn with the eyeshade shading the eyes instead of the nap of the neck...but that is a whole different discussion.

Agree! LOL!

[Taz_Zoee]

A cap, to me, is the lid for a pen or other object. An item worn on the head is always a hat to me. But I do not speak perfect English, AT ALL! There's probably some errors in this post.

[Killearn Kitties]

I have always thought that a cap was something with a skip, the kind of thing schoolboys wore in the dim and distant past. I can't find a proper picture, only this kind of thing from a fancy dress site.

[kokopup]

I think that cap and hat are often the same as in baseball cap or hat. I usually look at any head cover as being a HAT and in some cases is also a cap. If you are wearing a Bowler it is always a hat. Same would go for a TOP or Derby Hat. I think more confusing would be the words pants and trousers. It depends on what the purpose is for their use. Like you would never refer to blue jeans as trousers, or you would not refer to the bottom of a TUX as pants, but of course you could and
that would be ok

[Cinder & Smoke]

Baseball caps are something I think should be worn
with the eyeshade shading the eyes instead of the nap of the neck ...

NO, No, no, sillie!

SIDEways - so your EAR doesn't get a sun burn!

Dint the Hoodies teach you Nuffin in Chicago?

[RICHARD]

The last time I heard the term "knickers" was on the BBC's Graham Norton show.

Nigella Lawson was on and GN asked her about the stories in the media about her going 'sans knickers' often.


No translation needed here!

[Karen]

To further complicate matters, what today's Cat of the Day is wearing is called a mortarboard - but colloquially known as a graduation cap.

Hat and cap are somewhat interchangeable, but as Sara mentioned, a cap is generally less formal.

The Queen mum, for example, wore hats. Prince Charles often dons a cap.

And a baseball cap, when worn facing front, makes a great hands-free umbrella for one's eyeglasses!