tuna can
n.— «The Cleveland center is also fabricating the Constellation program hardware that will be the first to fly: a prototype of the upper stage of the Ares I rocket that will boost the crew capsule into orbit. The rocket segments, affectionately known as “tuna cans,” will be shipped by barge to the Kennedy Space Center, where they will be stacked together for the first test launch, scheduled for April 2009.» —“Over the moon about mission” by Howard Witt in Cleveland, Ohio Chicago Tribune Oct. 29, 2006. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
In Enough is Enuf: Our Failed Attempts to Make English Easier to Spell (Bookshop|Amazon), Gabe Henry recounts the story of the first national spelling bee in 1908, which some contestants had threatened to boycott because one of the contestants from...
For one family in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the expression tuna casserole serves as code for “Tonight’s dinner doesn’t sound so good, so let’s go out to eat.” This is part of a complete episode.
Related