# Origins of phrase "tin pot dictator"
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-phrase-tin-pot-dictator/242041
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [April 26, 2004, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-phrase-tin-pot-dictator/242041 "2004-04-26T05:31:52Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)
#### Post date: [April 26, 2004, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-phrase-tin-pot-dictator/242041/1 "2004-04-26T05:31:52Z")
Where does it come from? Was there some dictator somewhere who was specifically associated with tin pots for some reason? Every time I hear the phrase, I get this mental picture of various dictators wearing tin pots on their head, but somehow I don’t think that’s the answer.
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### Author:  [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)
#### Post date: [April 26, 2004, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-phrase-tin-pot-dictator/242041/2 "2004-04-26T05:35:20Z")
From the image of little kids playing at being soldiers by wearing pots on their heads as helmets?
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### Author:  [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)
#### Post date: [April 26, 2004, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-phrase-tin-pot-dictator/242041/3 "2004-04-26T11:44:58Z")
> [@Sublight](#):
>
> From the image of little kids playing at being soldiers by wearing pots on their heads as helmets?
I think that’s the origin. “Tin Pot Dictator” usually means a faux-dictator, like a boss who micromanages everything you do and is a major asshole too.
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### Author:  [@chukhung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chukhung)
#### Post date: [April 26, 2004, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-phrase-tin-pot-dictator/242041/4 "2004-04-26T13:58:52Z")
On this [page](http://www.word-detective.com/091801.html) the Word Detective says
> [@](#):
>
> The original “tinhorns” were “tinhorn gamblers” in the Old West, addicted to a low-stakes game called “Chuck-a-luck,” in which dice were tumbled in a small metal contraption known as a “tin horn.” Serious gamblers looked down on such “tinhorn gamblers,” and by the end of the 19th century “tinhorn” had come into general usage as an adjective meaning “cheap” and “contemptible.” **A similar adjective, “tin-pot” (often heard in phrases such as “tin-pot dictator”), arose in the early 19th century by analogy to the perceived shoddiness of tin cookware.**
Presumably, your better class of dictator uses Mauviel copper sauce pans…