According to The Straight Dope, Duns Scotus recommended the wearing of conical hats to stimulate the brain – so-called "thinking caps".[7] (This notion is the likely source of the pointed hats traditionally worn by wizards, etc.) However, the Oxford English Dictionary (2nd edition) records that the term "dunce cap" itself did not enter the English language until after the term "dunce" had become a synonym for "fool" or "dimwit". In fact, "dunce cap" is not recorded before the 1833 travel book America, and the Americans by James Boardman.