LL-L "Lexicon" 2004.09.13 (12) [E]

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A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
L=Limburgish LS=Lowlands Saxon (Low German) N=Northumbrian
S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic V=(West)Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeêuws)
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From: Sandy Fleming <sandy at scotstext.org>
Subject: "Lexicon" [E]

>
> From: Ruth & Mark Dreyer <mrdreyer at lantic.net>
> Subject: LL-L "Lexicon" 2004.09.13 (04) [E]
>
> Dear Críostóir & All,
>
> Subject: LL-L "Lexicon" 2004.09.12 (11) [D/E]
>
> On the subject of 'cans' & 'tins'
>
> It seems to me that there is still a body of meanining to the word 'can'
> that has not yet been usurped by the term 'tin'.
>
> In 'Piers Ploughman' the word can appears, for a beverage (ale) container,
> unassociated with the tinned plate-iron of the Late Napoleonic. We in
> Afrikaans still use it for a rigid container of fluids, irrespective of
the
> material it is made of. A 'ses man kan' is a glass jug, or a host of
> subsequent replacements, even cardboard cartons, of the cheap & extremely
> mean fortified raw red wine, like jerepigo (Six fights per bottle,
> guaranteed).

I wonder which word came first, "can" or "canister"?

In Scots we always used the phrase "a tin can" for the cylindrical type
which has to be opened with a tin opener, but just "a tin" for the little
box.

But then it's "a tin o peas" and suchlike. And "a tin opener" never "a can
opener". But one of the hopscotch-like games we played we called "Kick the
Can", never "Kick the Tin". The "can" in this game was flat an round -
usually a shoe polish tin filled with dirt. Perhaps the phrase "Kick the
Can" was originally preferred merely for the alliteration.

"A tin" must be fairly ingrained in English English for the food containers
because it's been borrowed into Welsh as "tyned o bys" (not sure of the
spelling) for "a tin of peas". This is "tyn" plus the ending "-ed" which
corresponds to English "-ful", ie more literally "a tinful of peas".

Sandy
http://scotstext.org/

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