tin medal
n.— «If this thing goes through, they may soon start awarding a tin medal to the fourth-place finisher in the state track meet.» —“Putting more teams into playoffs just doesn’t add up” by Cedric Golden Austin American-Statesman (Texas) Oct. 19, 2000. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Aubrey in Waco, Texas, says her mother used to warn the kids against contracting honkus of the bonkus, a fanciful name for a contagious disease. This colloquial term probably comes from the words bonk and konk, meaning “to hit” or...
Astronauts returning from space say they experience what’s called the overview effect, a new understanding of the fragility of our planet and our need to reflect on what humans all share as a species. A book about the end of the universe...