[Dixielandjazz] tin-pot: M-W's Word of the Day

[Norman Vickers]

Listmates:  Here's the Merriam-Webster word of the day.  I send it along
because I get questions about how "tin pan alley" got its name.  Here is
their explanation of it.

Good wishes.

Norman--now you're edified--Vickers



The Word of the Day for January 6 is:

tin-pot   \TIN-POT\    adjective 
     : two-bit, small-time

Example sentence:
     Petty despots and tin-pot dictators often pay lip service to democratic
ideals to give their regimes an aura of legitimacy.

Did you know?
     Tin has never commanded as much respect as some other metals. As a
reflection of this, its name has long been used in terms denoting the tawdry
or petty. "Tin-pot" has been used for minor or insignificant things or
people since the early 1800s. "Tinhorn" has named fakes or frauds
(especially gamblers) since the 1880s, and "tin lizzie" has been a nickname
for an inexpensive car since Ford introduced the Model T. Another example is
"tin pan" (as in "Tin Pan Alley"), which referred to the tinny sound of
pianos pounded furiously by musicians plugging tunes to producers.