This week’s theme
Words coined after metals

This week’s words
golden calf
silver spoon
tinhorn
brass tacks
ironclad

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(TIN-horn)

MEANING:

noun: Someone who pretends to have money, skill, influence, etc.
adjective: Inferior or insignificant, while pretending to be otherwise.

ETYMOLOGY:

The word has its origin in gambling, from the use of a cone-shaped container used to shake the dice. A tinhorn gambler was someone who pretended to be a big player, but actually played for small stakes. Earliest documented use: 1885.

USAGE:

“I’m a veteran, and toted an assault rifle for a couple of years in a war. was a useful and necessary tool of military combat, but I haven’t needed or wanted one since I left the military 50 years ago.
“I was a hunter before I went in the service, and enjoyed it thoroughly, except for maybe eating what I shot. It was always a little tougher and gamier than the same stuff in the supermarket. After the service, I stopped hunting, because I didn’t want to shoot at anything if it wasn’t shooting at me, and gunfire made me jumpy.
“Today, I don’t want to be anywhere near a woods full of tinhorn troopers with their military toys.”
Mike Pfrang; Your Views; Wisconsin State Journal (Madison); Aug 5, 2018.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: