tin medal
n.— «An unusually high number of American athletes did win the mythical tin medal for fourth place.» —“Medal Haul Leaves Americans Wanting More—Doesn’t It?” by John Markon Richmond Times-Dispatch (Va.) Feb. 22, 1998. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
A hundred years ago, suffragists lobbied to win women the right to vote. Linguistically speaking, though, suffrage isn’t about “suffering.” It’s from a Latin word that involves voting. Plus: military cadences often include...
Katie in Everett, Washington, is curious about the expression If ifs and ands were pots and pans, there’d be no need for tinkers. What is a tinker? She heard this phrase on the television series The Gilded Age, in response to a character who...