# Tinfoil? Not likely- **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 13, 2010, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinfoil-not-likely/564030 "2010-12-13T20:45:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![mrklutz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@mrklutz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrklutz)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinfoil-not-likely/564030/21 "2010-12-14T15:49:33Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > This just in… > Hamburger does not contain any ham. > Film at 11. Oh, but it’s a thing of beauty when the two meet: a charcoal-grilled hamburger with a big ol’ slab of real ham (not that processed deli crap) on top. Yum. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinfoil-not-likely/564030/22 "2010-12-14T15:56:50Z")
I keep my tin foil on top of my hot water heater. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinfoil-not-likely/564030/23 "2010-12-14T16:01:23Z")
Does Hampshire have ham in it? I always call it tinfoil because Aluminum foil is longer to say. Yes, I’m a lazy talker sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinfoil-not-likely/564030/24 "2010-12-14T16:12:39Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > I keep my tin foil on top of my hot water heater. I keep MY tinfoil on top of my… wait for it … head. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinfoil-not-likely/564030/25 "2010-12-14T16:46:47Z")
“My car gets 40 rods to the hogshead and that’s the way I likes it.” ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinfoil-not-likely/564030/26 "2010-12-14T17:13:49Z")
I spent a semester in Australia, so I calls it “aluminium foil” like a proper git. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinfoil-not-likely/564030/27 "2010-12-14T17:20:56Z")
…and probubly “dial” your telephone. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinfoil-not-likely/564030/28 "2010-12-14T17:24:57Z")
I like to watch a cooking show on PBS called _Lidia’s Italy_. Lidia Bastianich is the Italian/Croatian cook who stars, and here are a couple of terms she uses: “Foil paper” for aluminum foil “Close the fire” for “turn off the fire/flame” ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinfoil-not-likely/564030/29 "2010-12-14T17:25:04Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > …and probubly “dial” your telephone. Bahh, I just pick up the thing, tap on the hanger/hook thingy a few times and then some spinster (who invariably looks like Lilly Tomlin) “connects” me. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinfoil-not-likely/564030/30 "2010-12-14T17:28:39Z")
Grew up in the Chicago calling it tin foil, even though I knew it was aluminum. I also called the refrigerator an icebox, even though it was electric. It was what my parents called them. This has not carried over to my daughter. I think she would figure out icebox, but I think shed look at me strangely if I asked her to get some tinfoil. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinfoil-not-likely/564030/31 "2010-12-14T18:09:37Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Before the invention of aluminum and soft rolled mill steel, tin was the inexpensive metal that was easy to form into thin sheets. > Another anecdote: at one point church organ pipes were made out of tin, and when one in a Russian church crumbled into dust one winter, they discovered tin’s non-metallic phase which occurs at low temperatures. It was called “tin disease” and after the first spontaneous occurrence, tin organ pipes all over northern Europe started to crumble in the winter. Obviously the bad seed had spread. I think “tinsmith” referred to anyone who worked in non-precious, non-ferrous metals. The US has coins named “one cent”, “five cents”, “one dime”, “quarter dollar”, “half dollar” and “one dollar” and called, resp., “penny” (plural “pennies”), “nickel”, “dime”, “quarter”, “half dollar”, and “dollar”. Canada has coins labeled “one cent”, “five cents”, “ten cents”, “twenty five cents”, “fifty cents”, “one dollar”, and “two dollars” and called, resp., “penny” (“pennies”), “nickel”, “dime”, “quarter”, “half dollar”, “loonie” and “twonie” (or maybe “toonie”). The loonie does have a loon on it and you can figure out where the other appellations come from. Incidentally the quarter is called “trente sous” in french. Go figure. A penny is called “un sou”. The way the government got the paper bills out of circulation was to stop printing them. There was a report on the news this morning that the Canadian senate had recommended getting rid of the penny. About time, I say. Waste of copper and money. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinfoil-not-likely/564030/32 "2010-12-14T19:38:40Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > The foil covering wine bottles, by the way, used to be LEAD foil, not tin or aluminum. It’s true that lead has been used, but it’s untrue to say that tin has not. Tin capsules are still in production, in fact, Citation: [http://www.sparflexcal.com/aluminum-tin-capsules.html](http://www.sparflexcal.com/aluminum-tin-capsules.html) > [@](#): > > Tin capsules are regarded as the industry standard for luxury wines and spirits ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinfoil-not-likely/564030/33 "2010-12-14T19:42:38Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Bahh, > > I just pick up the thing, tap on the hanger/hook thingy a few times and then some spinster (who invariably looks like Lilly Tomlin) “connects” me. “Sarah, get me Mt. Pilot.” ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinfoil-not-likely/564030/34 "2010-12-14T19:50:22Z")
> [@](#): > > I think “tinsmith” referred to anyone who worked in non-precious, non-ferrous metals. I know that a whitesmith worked in light colored metals (not iron or steel). I also know that there were merchants who dealt mostly or exclusively in tin wares. > [@Pai325](#): > > Grew up in the Chicago calling it tin foil, even though I knew it was aluminum. I also called the refrigerator an icebox, even though it was electric. It was what my parents called them. This has not carried over to my daughter. I think she would figure out icebox, but I think shed look at me strangely if I asked her to get some tinfoil. I grew up in Fort Worth, but my parents came from New England (dad) and Missouri and then Texas (mom, obviously). Both of them called the refrigerator an icebox, though neither referred to tinfoil. My father was in the box business, and while everybody else called the stuff that his factory made “cardboard”, he insisted that the correct term was “corrugated fiberboard”. And I learned to call it corrugated fiberboard at home, so as to avoid the lecture, but call it cardboard everywhere else, so people would know what I was talking about. I already had the reputation of being the walking, talking dictionary at school, and I didn’t particularly care for it. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinfoil-not-likely/564030/35 "2010-12-14T19:53:56Z")
Tin foil came first and was supplanted by aluminium foil after WII. Lots of people kept the old name. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinfoil-not-likely/564030/36 "2010-12-14T19:55:55Z")
> [@](#): > > The way the government got the paper bills out of circulation was to stop printing them. There was a report on the news this morning that the Canadian senate had recommended getting rid of the penny. About time, I say. Waste of copper and money. I love my squished pennies, but the penny as a coin in the American monetary system has outlived its usefulness. We need to get rid of the penny AND the dollar bill, and start issuing dollar coins on a widespread basis. Paper/plastic dollar bills are just too expensive and shortlived. > [@](#): > > I think “tinsmith” referred to anyone who worked in non-precious, non-ferrous metals. I know that a whitesmith worked in light colored metals (not iron or steel). I also know that there were merchants who dealt mostly or exclusively in tin wares. > [@Pai325](#): > > Grew up in the Chicago calling it tin foil, even though I knew it was aluminum. I also called the refrigerator an icebox, even though it was electric. It was what my parents called them. This has not carried over to my daughter. I think she would figure out icebox, but I think shed look at me strangely if I asked her to get some tinfoil. I grew up in Fort Worth, but my parents came from New England (dad) and Missouri and then Texas (mom, obviously). Both of them called the refrigerator an icebox, though neither referred to tinfoil. As an adult, I made a deliberate effort to call a refrigerator a refrigerator, or a fridge. My father was in the box business, and while everybody else called the stuff that his factory made “cardboard”, he insisted that the correct term was “corrugated fiberboard”. And I learned to call it corrugated fiberboard at home, so as to avoid the lecture, but call it cardboard everywhere else, so people would know what I was talking about. I already had the reputation of being the walking, talking dictionary at school, and I didn’t particularly care for it. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinfoil-not-likely/564030/37 "2010-12-15T02:46:33Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > I know that a whitesmith worked in light colored metals (not iron or steel). I also know that there were merchants who dealt mostly or exclusively in tin wares. > My father was in the box business, and while everybody else called the stuff that his factory made “cardboard”, he insisted that the correct term was “corrugated fiberboard”. I believe in addition to whitesmith and tin smith, the term “tinker” got it’s origin from people who make/repair stuff made out of tin. Re. fiberboard- I thought fiberboard was that stuff they make bargain furniture and wall paneling out of: a glued-together mass of splinters and sawdust. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinfoil-not-likely/564030/38 "2010-12-15T02:56:46Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > I stopped referring to it as tin foil about the same time pop started the switch to aluminum cans and from the throw away tops on the pop cans. What were those things called anyway? From Margaritaville > [@Jimmy Buffet](#): > > “I blew out my flip flop, > Stepped on a **pop top** , > Cut my heel, had to cruise on back home. > But there’s booze in the blender, > And soon it will render > That frozen concoction that helps me hang on.” ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinfoil-not-likely/564030/39 "2010-12-15T03:53:15Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > This just in… > Hamburger does not contain any ham. > Film at 11. Yeah, right. Next thing, you’ll be saying New York is actually old! Best wishes, hh ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinfoil-not-likely/564030/40 "2010-12-15T15:11:53Z")
> [@handsomeharry](#): > > Yeah, right. Next thing, you’ll be saying New York is actually old! Well, I did hear that old New York was once New Amsterdam. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinfoil-not-likely/564030.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinfoil-not-likely/564030.md?page=3)