Dictionary

tin Lizzie en · NOUN

Etymology

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

Meanings

1. (dated, informal) The Ford Motor Company's Model T automobile.
   • 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." 1917, Edgar Rice Burroughs, chapter 6, in The Oakdale Affair:
   • The Model T became a legend. . . . The Tin Lizzie rattled and banged across the country. 1947 April 21, “Michigan: Detroit Dynast”, in Time:
2. (broadly, informal) A small, unpretentious, vintage automobile, especially one that is in run-down condition.
   • "The car he was driving was a shit-box, a real Tin Lizzie, older than Christ." 2003, Thomas Rendell Curran, Undertow, →ISBN, page 160:
   • "It's a ottomobile. . . . It's a second-hand tin Lizzie," said Walter. "D'you know what that means? It means a flivver." 1921, Booth Tarkington, chapter 6, in Alice Adams:

Forms

Synonyms

old banger · gas guzzler · crock · rustbucket · banger · jalopy · junker · hooptie · shed · shitpot · lemon · rattletrap · bucket of bolts · bucket of rust · wreck · tin Lizzie · shitcan · beater · shitbox · shitbucket · crate · flivver · jalopy · flivver · clunker