tin medal
n.— «You can let your hair grow long, shove your sombrero on to the back of your head, strike your breast close to where you’ve pinned that tin medal you made yourself.» —“Medicine Man Gets Patriotic” Washington Post Oct. 6, 1907. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
A flashlight emits a steady beam of light. So what’s the flash part of that word about? Also, if you’re a nervous Nellie, you’re skittish and indecisive—both characteristics of an American politician who earned that nickname in the...
Sigrin writes from Albany, New York, that she misheard our earlier conversation about the expression shaving yak hair meaning “performing a monotonous, tedious task.” At first she thought we said shaving gnat hair, which she figures is...