all hat and no cattle

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#1·3h ago

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

1980, Patricia Calvert, The Snowbird, Scribner, , page 29,

Origin: In reference to cattle ranchers and the hats they stereotypically wear; also derives from people wearing cowboy hats as fashion, but who are not actually cowboys, i.e., a poser, or a pretentious and phony individual. Origin information sourced from Wiktionary contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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