# Tin foil: Commonly used term, but was there ever such a consumer product? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 26, 2009, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-foil-commonly-used-term-but-was-there-ever-such-a-consumer-product/483059 "2009-01-26T15:43:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2017, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-foil-commonly-used-term-but-was-there-ever-such-a-consumer-product/483059/81 "2017-02-23T15:24:12Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > Even though it’s an old thread, what about “tin cans”? And of course the Brits still have tins of things. > > Here in Michigan it’s a can of beans when it’s full, but it might be just an empty tin can when it’s empty. Heck, I’m 42, and I’ll still sometimes just call it a “tin” without the “can” part even. ETA: most often in the case of sardines or other fish that comes in those types of containers. Never called it anything else, in fact. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2017, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-foil-commonly-used-term-but-was-there-ever-such-a-consumer-product/483059/82 "2017-02-23T15:53:11Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > In a selection of written material, correct? Google Ngram data doesn’t suggest anything about spoken-word usage, I don’t believe. True. And when I checked the Dictionary of American Regional English I didn’t find an entry for tin foil. But the collection of modern items scanned by Google should include a large number of more casual and colloquial entries. I’m sure that modern ephemeral teen slang is wildly underrepresented but older surviving usages would show up more often. And the lines show pretty much exactly the shape you would expect. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2017, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-foil-commonly-used-term-but-was-there-ever-such-a-consumer-product/483059/83 "2017-02-23T16:02:55Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > True. And when I checked the Dictionary of American Regional English I didn’t find an entry for tin foil. But the collection of modern items scanned by Google should include a large number of more casual and colloquial entries. I’m sure that modern ephemeral teen slang is wildly underrepresented but older surviving usages would show up more often. And the lines show pretty much exactly the shape you would expect. Did you check for “tinfoil” (without the space)? The OED has that entry, with citations going back to 1467. The definition notes that the term may also refer to “a similar sheet of an alloy… of aluminium”, though none of the quotations use the term in that sense. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2017, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-foil-commonly-used-term-but-was-there-ever-such-a-consumer-product/483059/84 "2017-02-23T16:23:06Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > Did you check for “tinfoil” (without the space)? The OED has that entry, with citations going back to 1467. The definition notes that the term may also refer to “a similar sheet of an alloy… of aluminium”, though none of the quotations use the term in that sense. Looks like [“tinfoil” is more common than “tin foil”](https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=tinfoil%2Ctin+foil&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Ctinfoil%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Ctin%20foil%3B%2Cc0) in Google’s ngram database. Only in a brief period in the 1830s did “tin foil” show more prevalence. Anyhow, here in Chicago, “tinfoil” is still fairly regularly used, at least among my peers and their parents (so ages 40-70). I tend to use “aluminum foil,” myself, but I’ll use “tinfoil,” as well, and it’s not a word that sounds dated or unusual to my ears. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2017, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-foil-commonly-used-term-but-was-there-ever-such-a-consumer-product/483059/85 "2017-02-23T16:51:14Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > Did you check for “tinfoil” (without the space)? The OED has that entry, with citations going back to 1467. The definition notes that the term may also refer to “a similar sheet of an alloy… of aluminium”, though none of the quotations use the term in that sense. DARE is a survey of how people across America refer to particular items. It doesn’t deal with etymology. All it would say - caricaturing - is that people in the Midwest say tin foil, people in New England say aluminum foil, and people in South Carolina call it tea foil. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2017, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-foil-commonly-used-term-but-was-there-ever-such-a-consumer-product/483059/86 "2017-02-23T17:34:35Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > DARE is a survey of how people across America refer to particular items. It doesn’t deal with etymology. All it would say - caricaturing - is that people in the Midwest say tin foil, people in New England say aluminum foil, and people in South Carolina call it tea foil. Ya forgot that small group of morans that call it “coke foil”. CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![Algernon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Algernon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algernon)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2017, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-foil-commonly-used-term-but-was-there-ever-such-a-consumer-product/483059/87 "2017-02-24T13:44:07Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Anyhow, here in Chicago, “tinfoil” is still fairly regularly used, at least among my peers and their parents (so ages 40-70). Wisconsinite here, and everyone I know calls it tinfoil. Even my grown children. Well, I should qualify that last statement: my daughter has been living in Australia for the last 7 years and has picked up on most of the Aussie terminology, so I really don’t know what she calls it anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2017, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-foil-commonly-used-term-but-was-there-ever-such-a-consumer-product/483059/88 "2017-02-24T16:45:17Z")
> [@Algernon](#): > > Well, I should qualify that last statement: my daughter has been living in Australia for the last 7 years and has picked up on most of the Aussie terminology, so I really don’t know what she calls it anymore. My previous Chief (an Aussie) called it something all-foil, or maybe (logically) alfoil. Given his thick accent, he could have been talking about his meals containing offal, to be honest. ---
**Author:** ![squidfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@squidfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squidfood)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2017, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-foil-commonly-used-term-but-was-there-ever-such-a-consumer-product/483059/89 "2017-02-24T18:11:37Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > … in any context outside of tin foil hat or the equivalent. You know, of course (being a Doper) that while tin reflects Illuminati mind-control rays, aluminum actually _amplifies_ them. The great coup was having industry switch to aluminum, while keeping “tin” in usage. This ensures that those who have learned the Truth, and are inclined to put on said hats, are in fact doubly-susceptible while believing themselves safe. (and yes, this is a genuinely-circulating theory out there. how could it not be?) ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2017, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-foil-commonly-used-term-but-was-there-ever-such-a-consumer-product/483059/90 "2017-03-04T14:15:36Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Thank you pulykamell > > Another nagging question solved. Gee, you’re lucky. I’ve been waiting eight years for the answer to [my](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=10754774&postcount=55) post in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2017, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-foil-commonly-used-term-but-was-there-ever-such-a-consumer-product/483059/91 "2017-03-04T17:12:03Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > I’ve been contemplating asking this questions so I guess I’ll try a hijack here. > > I don’t remember ever seeing tin, except that thin layer on “tin” cans. What’s it like if you have, say, a cc in your hand? Is it pretty much like a chunk of aluminum would be? Heavier. ---
**Author:** ![Weisshund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba8739/32.png) [@Weisshund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weisshund)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2017, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-foil-commonly-used-term-but-was-there-ever-such-a-consumer-product/483059/92 "2017-03-04T19:44:03Z")
It’s been called tin foil every place i have been in the US, and that’s every state but Hawaii It was also tin foil a lot longer than it has been aluminum foil, and the name has simply stuck. Go into any grocery store where ever you might be, ask for tin foil and they will know exactly what you want. The tin foil was great, you saved it, and hunted up old fishing sinkers, then melted it and you got homemade solder. I also remember it being stiffer and sturdier than the aluminum stuff. We used lead for things too, it made great stuff, made good paints, metal soldiers etc We survived because we DID NOT EAT IT ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2017, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-foil-commonly-used-term-but-was-there-ever-such-a-consumer-product/483059/93 "2017-03-05T00:23:06Z")
In Australia while the term ‘tin foil’ is common and understood, it seems to be disappearing. The preferred term for the modern stuff here is Alfoil. I always thought alfoil was a commercial product name that had become generic, like linoleum, but on chasing it up, the term just seems to be an Australian regionalism, and is [used to describe the material](http://www.bowenpackaging.com.au/products/category/25-alfoil), and fits in with the Australian tendency to abbreviate words and that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-foil-commonly-used-term-but-was-there-ever-such-a-consumer-product/483059.md?page=4)