tin Lizzie

See also: tin lizzie, and Tin Lizzie

English

Tin Lizzie

Alternative forms

• Tin Lizzie, tin lizzie

Etymology

Unknown, perhaps from the use of Lizzie as a generic name given to horses.

Noun

tin Lizzie (plural tin Lizzies)

1. (informal, dated) The Ford Motor Company's Model T automobile.
   • 1917, Edgar Rice Burroughs, chapter 6, in The Oakdale Affair:

     Fate, in the guise of a rural free delivery carrier and a Ford, passed by the front gate. . . . "I don' see why he don't carry a whip," mused Jeb Case. "A-gidappin' to that there tin lizzie," he muttered disgustedly, "jes' like it was as good as a hoss."

   • 1947 April 21, "Michigan: Detroit Dynast," Time:

     The Model T became a legend. . . . The Tin Lizzie rattled and banged across the country.

2. (informal, by extension) A small, unpretentious, vintage automobile, especially one that is in run-down condition.

   Synonyms: flivver, jalopy; see also Thesaurus:old car

   • 1921, Booth Tarkington, chapter 6, in Alice Adams:

     "It's a ottomobile. . . . It's a second-hand tin Lizzie," said Walter. "D'you know what that means? It means a flivver."

   • 2003, Thomas Rendell Curran, Undertow‎^[1], →ISBN, page 160:

     "The car he was driving was a shit-box, a real Tin Lizzie, older than Christ."

Further reading

• Ford Model T on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “tin Lizzie”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.