What does 'all hat and no trousers' mean?

[Priya Raghavan]

English Language Tests, Intermediate level

ESL/EFL Test #302 "English Slang Idioms (24)", question 3

"Oh, he says he will get that new job but he is all hat and no .......... He isn't qualified but thinks that he is likeable enough to charm anyone into anything," Sally told Lucy.

(a) trousers
(b) rain
(c) purpose
(d) bolts

English Language Tests, Intermediate level

ESL/EFL Test #302 "English Slang Idioms (24)", answer 3

"Oh, he says he will get that new job but he is all hat and no trousers. He isn't qualified but thinks that he is likeable enough to charm anyone into anything," Sally told Lucy.

Correct answer: (a) trousers

Your answer was: incorrect
"Oh, he says he will get that new job but he is all hat and no purpose. He isn't qualified but thinks that he is likeable enough to charm anyone into anything," Sally told Lucy.
_________________________

What does 'all hat and no trousers' mean? Is it same as 'all hat and no cattle (an earlier test)'?

Priya Raghavan

[Mister Micawber]

.
Yes, that's right:

all hat and no cattle

1. (US, idiomatic) Full of big talk but lacking action, power, or substance; pretentious.

all hat and no trousers

"All talk and no action", "All bark and no bite". One who seems to be great but is of little substance.
.
_________________
Native English teacher at Mister Micawber's

[Kati Svaby]

Please activate Javascript in your browser to listen to this audio recording

9 Listened

Download mp3	Click to listen

Hello Mr. Micawber,

I've looked for everywhere the idiom: "...he is all hat and no trousers" At last I spent for one hour with the searching. I found the next:
-all hat and cuttle -this can be found everywhere.
-All talk and no action.
-All bark and no bite

All ones with the same explanation but "all hat no trousers"- I couldn't found anywhere.
Can I reveal me where I can find it?

Thank you:
Kati Svaby

[Kati Svaby]

Excuse me for my addressing in the permalink. This is a typo. Of course I would have written: To Mr. Micawber.

[Mister Micawber]

I suppose I got it from on-line examples, not a posted definition:

On the economy, Senator McCain’s claim that he is a maverick is all hat and no trousers. Maverick? This is the man who interrupted his campaign to go and support his boss George Bush for the last time to dish American taxpayers’ money to Wall Street.

Bull snakes are wonderful animals, can be as tame as any corn snake with patient handling, and are a more active species. They have impressive threat displays of tail rattling, gaping, hissing, even mock charges, but they are almost always all hat and no trousers - it's a bluff and once they're out of their cage they're usually fine.

What I'm getting at is that we are all hat and no trousers. It's like whining about gas prices going up, people don't have the constitution to stop buying what they're selling, and price rules supreme; we may bemoan the lack of peanuts but we won't pay for them either.

The principles stated in this post seem to me the good old principles of every business, that is not only trying to advertise something but be careful that what you advertise is really what you offer. Otherwise the customer will notice that it´s all hat and no trousers.
_________________
Native English teacher at Mister Micawber's

[Kati Svaby]

Please activate Javascript in your browser to listen to this audio recording

7 Listened

Download mp3	Click to listen

Hello Mr Micawber,

Thank you for your explanation. To tell the truth I didn't understand either "all hat and no cattle" nor "all hat no trousers". I rather understood: All talk no action. All bark and no bite.The two previous ones I explained to myself " he is talking through his hat" what we say in Hungarian: "He is talking in the air "

Thank you for your four examples. Now I began to understand this strange idiom.
One is more exiting than the other.

1.McCain who dished American taxpayers' money to Wall Street means he was best interest to change sides -doesn't he? Here " all hat and no trousers" means a money grubber-doesn't he?

2.About the snakes we can say they "all bark and no bite". Am I right?

3.You say we are "all hat and no trousers" because we only speak but don't act. I understood in this way.

4.Advertising - don't make a fool of people.

Thank you again. I hope that I didn't misunderstand your examples. But they were very interesting. It was good to read and meditate on them.

Best wishes:
Kati Svaby

[Mister Micawber]

#1-- Not a 'money-grubber', just an average legislator in that regard.
_________________
Native English teacher at Mister Micawber's