کلاه

The idiom سر کسی کلاه گذاشتن (sar-e kasi kolâh gozâshtan), "to put a hat on someone," means to deceive or scam them. The mental picture is sharp: pulling a hat down over a person's eyes so they cannot see what is being done. The noun کلاه‌برداری (kolâh-bardâri), literally "hat-lifting," is the standard Persian word for fraud and shows up in news headlines, court reports, and everyday warnings about online scams. So when an Iranian friend says مواظب باش، سرت کلاه نگذارن (movâzeb bâsh, sar-et kolâh nagozâran) "watch out, don't let them put a hat on your head," they are telling you to keep your wits about you. The hat is doing real cultural work.