at the drop of a hat
- 1Without any hesitation or delay; instantly.
He's the kind of friend who would drive across the state at the drop of a hat.
The new manager was known for reversing company policy at the drop of a hat.
Note
The image is a starting signal: competitions were once begun with a sweeping downward motion of a cap, and the contest started on that gesture. The phrase keeps that sense of acting on the slightest cue, often more readily than the occasion deserves: people cry at the drop of a hat. It can be warm, too. In Jack Kerouac's On the Road (1957), two friends take to each other at the drop of a hat.
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Origin
The phrase comes from the customary way of starting competitions, where someone would signal the start by making a sweeping downward motion with a cap or hat.