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
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...
Book recommendations, including a collection of short stories inspired by dictionaries, and a techno-thriller for teens. Or, how about novels with an upbeat message? Publishers call this genre up lit. Plus, a clergyman ponders an arresting phrase in...