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In Canadian English the word tuque refers to a knitted cap for use in cold weather.

I'd like to know what such an item is commonly called in other dialects and regions since most people are utterly bamboozled when I say "tuque". So sound off and tell me what you call this!

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    I'm voting to close this because there is no real answer to this question. It should possibly be a CW.
    – user10893
    Dec 5, 2011 at 0:13
  • @simchona: Or it could just be edited to ask "what are the names for this type of hat, and in what regions are those names used?" Then it's clear that there is an answer (even though it has multiple parts) - and note that it's basically the same as the union of the answers to this question, so this really isn't that bad.
    – Cascabel
    Dec 5, 2011 at 5:05
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    @jefromi yes, but how does one come up with a complete list? Say you write one. Then I say "no, in my region we say X not Y". Then someone else says "I'm from the same reason; simchona is wrong; we actually say..." it still wouldn't be constructive and would be better off as a CW if anything, where people can freely edit answers to provide complete information.
    – user10893
    Dec 5, 2011 at 8:27
  • meta.english.stackexchange.com/questions/2235/…
    – Cascabel
    Dec 5, 2011 at 16:38

7 Answers 7

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I have heard them called toboggans, but where I grew up (NE USA) there was no word that was specific that type of hat. Where I live now (SE USA), they are called "ski caps", probably since a ski slope is about the only place they are needed.

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They are called beanies in South Africa, and this also seems true in many other parts of the world.

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    Including Australia.
    – Mark Hurd
    Dec 5, 2011 at 1:36
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American English speaker here, native of California. I'd call it a stocking cap or knit cap. A plain, tight-fitting model could be a watch cap; these are favored by the stereotypical burglar and other shady characters. (If you search Google Images for "burglar," all of them are wearing either a watch cap, a ski mask (aka balaclava), or, for British burglars, a cloth cap.)

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Years ago all the ones I can remember looked like this...

enter image description here

...so here in the UK we called them bobble hats. They don't usually have a "bobble" these days, so we just call them woolly hats.

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The Oxford Historical Thesaurus lists the following (not all of which are exactly toques):

  • Scottish/Scotch/statute/blue/stocking/toboggan cap
  • Scotch/blue/Highland bonnet
  • Kilmarnock cowl, Welsh wig, scone, glengarry, beret, Balmoral, tam-o'-shanter, tammy, tam, toboggan.
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  • and how do you call it? Welcome to ELU
    – Bogdan Lataianu
    Dec 4, 2011 at 23:05
  • I call it a toque. I'm Canadian.
    – Brett Reynolds
    Dec 4, 2011 at 23:06
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UK - bobble hat
enter image description here

Or if you are a certain age - "a benny hat"

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I have heard some people call it a skull cap.

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