tin medal

n. an award jocularly said to be given to a fourth-place finisher; (generally) a prize for poor or unremarkable performance; a worthless honor or military decoration. Subjects: English, Sports & Recreation, Slang

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Citations: 1882 The Landmark (Statesvill, N.C.) (Mar. 24) “The Rink Closed” p. 3: The prize of a gold medal for the best female skater was award to Miss Mamie McElwee, and the prize of a tin medal for the poorest male skater was given, in a joke, to a young gentleman who really skates excellently well. 1907 Washington Post (Oct. 6) “Medicine Man Gets Patriotic” p. 4: 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. 1941 Clearfield Progress (Pa.) (Apr. 8) “Plain Good Sense Will Pull Us Through” p. 4: For some kind of tin medal for having made the least valuable contribution toward solving the strike situation in defense industries, we nominate those gentlemen who rose in the Senate and House and shrieked for “the electric chair” and “treason charges punishable by 25 years’ imprisonment” for strikers. 1988 Margaret Churchill @ Coffs Harbour Sydney Morning Herald (Australia) (Mar. 8) “Regular Shorts” p. 14: 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. 1992 Dave Anderson New York Times (Feb. 22) “Sour Whine Even Stains Bronze Bid” p. 31: If it doesn’t win today’s game with Czechoslovakia, it will finish fourth. For that, there’s not even a tin medal. 1998 John Markon Richmond Times-Dispatch (Va.) (Feb. 22) “Medal Haul Leaves Americans Wanting More—Doesn’t It?” p. D1: An unusually high number of American athletes did win the mythical tin medal for fourth place. 1998 David S. Landes Wealth and Poverty of Nations (Mar.) p. 475 @ (May 1, 1999): Give the World Bank a tin medal for pusillanimity. 2000 Cedric Golden Austin American-Statesman (Texas) (Oct. 19) “Putting more teams into playoffs just doesn’t add up” p. C1: If this thing goes through, they may soon start awarding a tin medal to the fourth-place finisher in the state track meet. 2005 Chris Carter Northern Territory News (Darwin, Australia) (Dec. 13) “Oh so close to sprint bronze” p. 37: Narelle placed fourth in 12.92 seconds, a whisker behind third-paced Queenslander Jessie Schellein (12.91) in the girls’ under-17 100m final. Whether the proverbial “tin medal” was a disappointment or an achievement depends on your point of view—the O’Loughlin College athlete was bedridden for most of the championships with the flu. 2006 Paul Friesen Winnipeg Sun (Manitoba, Canada) (Feb. 22) “Winning ‘tin’ tickles Canadian bobsledders”: While some say fourth place is the worst place to be at the Olympics, don’t tell that to Upperton.…As new as Canada is to the women’s sled game—other countries have been at it for six, seven years—a “tin medal,” as it’s known, doesn’t leave that bad a taste in your mouth.

Posted 1 Mar 06 | Permalink | Tell a Friend