Tinnie
Encyclopedia
Tin
Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. It is a main group metal in group 14 of the periodic table. Tin shows chemical similarity to both neighboring group 14 elements, germanium and lead and has two possible oxidation states, +2 and the slightly more stable +4...
, or aluminium
Aluminium
Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....
foil which has a loose allusion to tin.
In New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, a "tinny" or "tinnie" can be a small package of cannabis
Cannabis (drug)
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...
wrapped in tin foil (cf. 'foilies' in Australia), retailing for between NZ$20–25 (depending on the region). A building where such retailing takes place (commonly a superficially unremarkable home) is a "tinnie house". Other drugs such as methamphetamine
Methamphetamine
Methamphetamine is a psychostimulant of the phenethylamine and amphetamine class of psychoactive drugs...
may be available as well. In recent years the term has become not unusual in New Zealand court judgments involving the Misuse of Drugs Act.
Another variant of "tinny"/"tinnie" is as a slang
Slang
Slang is the use of informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's language or dialect but are considered more acceptable when used socially. Slang is often to be found in areas of the lexicon that refer to things considered taboo...
term for a can of beer
Beer
Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...
, commonly used in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
and some parts of the UK. Most items referred to in this region as "tinnies" are actually made of aluminium.
In Australia "tinny" is also commonly used as slang for a small open aluminium boat.
Short for tin-arse (now archaic), "tinny" is also used in Australia to mean "lucky", as in "he's a tinny bastard".
Tingoora, a small town just north of Kingaroy in south-east Queensland, Australia, is also often referred to a "Tinny", eg. the "Tinny Pub".
In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, a "tinnie" refers to a piece of tin foil that is made into a smoking device, most often for cannabis. It is used when nothing else of use can be found.
Other uses cover certain German medals or shops selling aluminium products.
Other meanings
One of the medieval Peel towerPeel tower
Peel towers are small fortified keeps or tower houses, built along the English and Scottish borders in the Scottish Marches and North of England, intended as watch towers where signal fires could be lit by the garrison to warn of approaching danger...
s on the Scottish Borders was at Tinnies.
Colloquially meaning a game in which a group of people jump on top of each other to form a pile. The game is initiated by an individual shouting "Tinnies", then lying face down to allow other players to lie on top, forming the pile. This game is also known by the names "Bundle" or "Pile-on."
"Tinny" is also a term for audio which lacks resonance, resembling a piece of tin being struck.
The phrase is also referenced in the Monty Python sketch "Woody and Tinny Words" where Graham Chapman describes various seemingly-random words as being "tinny" or "woody" with the former utterance inducing great discomfort in his daughter.