Anybody out there?
Anyway, here I go with my first shot, if you don't mind :)
On the tin.
I read it in a Usenet post on news.software.readers
"Have you implemented it and does it do what it says on the tin ?"
Sadly, the Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms doesn't report
that idiom.
It has instead
a tin ear
informal
if someone has a tin ear, they do not have a natural ability to
understand or enjoy music
Even to someone with a tin ear like mine, their singing sounded pretty
awful.
a (little) tin god literary
someone who behaves as if they are more important or powerful than
they really are
Have you seen him over there, acting like a little tin god?
be like a cat on a hot tin roof
to be nervous and unable to keep still
What's the matter with her? She's like a cat on a hot tin roof this
morning.
No "on the tin", thougg :(
Then, googling around, I found some more examples
... like what Ronseal insist on reminding us, they do 'Exactly what
it says on the tin'. ...
"Does exactly what it says on the tin."
"...does it do it what it says on the tin?"
speak,..."
"to do it what it says on the tin" seems to be sort of fixed
expression, meaning, more or less "does exactly what it says".
But what has that to do with "tin", id est
1 malleable, silvery metallic element obtained chiefly from
cassiterite,
2. Tin plate.
3. A container or box made of tin plate.
4. Chiefly British a. A container for preserved foodstuffs; a can.
[
???
Well, I couldn't figure out it exactly where that idiom come from. I
coildn't even find it on the Penguin Dictionary of English Idioms, a
book I have on my shelf :(
So, if someone knows, please let me know :)
--
Enrico C ~ No native speaker
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