Knickerbocker (N.Y.) V:5 May 436: When a person is eccentric, he is pronounced ‘as odd as Dick’s hat band.’ The origin of this native apophthegm is buried in obscurity. In vain does curiosity inquire who was the mysterious Richard, with taste unique, and hat-band odd? Was it Richard the III? or Coeur de Lion? Probably not the former.at ...Dick’s hatband under queer as..., adj.