Simile: like substance through a tin horn

Wed Apr 4 17:37:05 UTC 2012

Dan Goncharoff wrote:
> Is "tin horn" just another way of saying "funnel"?
>
> I am thinking of the Tin Woodman's hat...

Thanks for your response Dan. On the Wombats mailing list Suzanne
Watkins offered an intriguing hypothesis consonant with your
suggestion.

[Begin excerpt from Suzanne Watkins post on Project Wombat mailing list]

The tin horn has a number of manifestations in the 19th century from a
child's obnoxious toy, a sailor's fog horn, or a nickname for cheap,
pretentious gamblers and lawyers, but there was another use of tin
horns from that bygone era in agrarian circles, that had a very
practical use with animals.

This tin horn used as a funnel would be shoved into the mouth of an
animal and a dose of "cure" would be poured in the bell like end to
slide down the throat of the beast.

To give an example, in the March 1861 New England Farmer, page 150,
was a "Remedy For Choked Cattle" that consisted of pouring a pint of
warm lard through a tin horn down the throat of a bull who was having
serious problem after swallowing a large potato. The end result was
that the potato (and most likely much more) was "expelled" in about 2
minutes after the dose was given.
…
[End excerpt]

On Tue, Apr 3, 2012 at 2:08 PM, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Simile: like *substance* through a tin horn
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Is "tin horn" just another way of saying "funnel"?
>
> I am thinking of the Tin Woodman's hat...
>
> DanG
>
>
> On Tue, Apr 3, 2012 at 1:30 PM, Garson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Garson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
>> Subject:      Simile: like *substance* through a tin horn
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> On the Project Wombat mailing list Jane Steinberg initiated a
>> discussion of the phrase "like shit through a tin horn".
>> [Begin excerpt]
>> I used to work for a harpsichord builder who, whenever something went
>> absolutely perfectly, would say, "like shit through a tin horn."
>> [End excerpt]
>>
>> The appearance of the word "shit" in print was restricted in the past.
>> So I think it makes sense, as a start, to gather evidence by looking
>> for variants of the phrase in the major text databases. Here are some
>> variants that appeared in newspapers and periodicals beginning in the
>> 1880s. I did not try to find the earliest examples. Details are below:
>>
>> Main question: Why do you think a tin horn is used in this collection
>> of similes?
>>
>> like butter through a tin horn
>> like water through a tin horn
>> like mud through a tin-horn
>>
>> Here is an example of "like butter through a tin horn" in 1887. A boat
>> was grounded on a bar in a river. Eventually, a strategy was found to
>> move the boat forward past the bar.
>>
>> Cite: 1887 October 09, Kansas City Times, Science in Navigation,
>> [Acknowledgement to Mobile Register], Page 19, Column 4, Kansas City,
>> Missouri. (GenealogyBank)
>> [Begin excerpt]
>> Then the rope was tied to a tree on the bank above and the old Carrier
>> went over that bar like butter through a tin horn.
>> [End excerpt]
>>
>> Cite: 1895, Senate Ex. Doc. No 57, Fifty Third Congress Second
>> Session, Topic: Hawaiian Islands, [Inclosure 2 in No. 36],
>> [Advertiser report of mass meeting, February 13, 1894.]  D. B. Smith
>> Is Again Nominated, Page 1229, Government Printing Office, Washington,
>> D.C. (Google Books full view)
>> http://books.google.com/books?id=vRs2AQAAIAAJ&q=%22tin+horn%22#v=snippet&
>> [Begin excerpt]
>> T. B. Severin then placed in nomination D. B. Smith. His name was
>> received with prolonged cheers, and was seconded by the whole league.
>> Three howls were called for on the nomination, the clockwork was again
>> put in motion and the league, as one man, signified its approval of
>> Mr. Smith. J. B. Atherton then moved that the nominations be closed,
>> which was carried, and D. B. Smith had been sent through the meeting
>> like water through a tin horn.
>> [End excerpt]
>>
>> In the domain of sports, the phrase "water through a tin horn" was
>> used with quotation marks in 1897. It was used to describe a runner
>> easily penetrating the defense of the opposing team and scoring a
>> touchdown.
>>
>> Cite: 1897 December 26, Oregonian, "Fought In Deep Mud: Multnomah Wins
>> Christmas Football Game, 10-6", Page 8, Quote in Column 2. Portland,
>> Oregon. (Genealogybank)
>> [Begin excerpt]
>> Wilbur was given the ball, and, with fine interference, plunged
>> through Multnomah's line like "water through a tin horn" and scored
>> Portland's only touchdown.
>> [End excerpt]
>>
>> The phrase "like mud through a tin-horn" was used in quotes in 1906.
>> The word "mud" was sometimes used as a euphemism for "shit" in
>> periodicals. So the phrase "like shit through a tin-horn" may have
>> been used by a pilot in the following excerpt.
>>
>> Cite: 1906 December, The Rudder, Volume 17, Number 12, A Fast Trip
>> Down the Hudson by Walter M. Bieling, Quote Page 735, The Rudder
>> Publishing Company, New York. (Google Books full view)
>> http://books.google.com/books?id=CCYjAQAAMAAJ&q=tin-horn#v=snippet&
>> [Begin excerpt]
>> We got off rather suddenly; our start was most businesslike, and we
>> went out of the Albany Y. C. basin, according to the pilot, "like mud
>> through a tin-horn."
>> [End excerpt]
>>
>> George S. Patton used the phrase on September 23, 1944 according to
>> the following book:
>>
>> The Patton papers 1940-1945
>> Author: George S Patton; Martin Blumenson
>> Publisher: New York : Da Capo Press, [1998]
>> http://books.google.com/books?id=RRolDuahqPMC&q=%22tin+horn%22#v=snippet&
>> [Begin excerpt]
>> Question: Once through the Siegfried Line, will the advance be much
>> like the last push?
>> Patton: I think we will go like shit through a tin horn.
>> [End excerpt]
>>
>> The idea of a substance moving through a tin horn easily was used in
>> similes by 1887 or earlier. The substance used in the simile varied:
>> butter, water and mud all appeared by 1906.  Other options include:
>> huckleberries, dose of salts, grease, shit, gooseshit, molasses and
>> more. I do not know why a tin-horn was selected for this collection of
>> similes.
>>
>> Garson O'Toole
>>
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>>
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