tin medal
n.— «In short, the reporting was an insult to our intelligence. In a Reporters’ Olympics they wouldn’t score a medal, not even a tin medal.» —“Regular Shorts” by Margaret Churchill in Coffs Harbour Sydney Morning Herald (Australia) Mar. 8, 1988. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
In the 15th century, the word respair meant “to have hope again.” Although this word fell out of use, it’s among dozens collected in a new book of soothing vocabulary for troubled times. Plus, baseball slang: If a batter...
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...