A character in my work-in-progress claims to have a tin ear. I dutifully recorded it... and stopped.
And how did "tin" get all wrapped up with ears? And how old is that idiom, anyway? My books are set in the 1880s, long before author L. Frank Baum introduced the Tin Man in his 1900 book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
So, I proceeded down my virtual version of the Yellow Brick Road to figure out the when, where, and why of the phrase tin ear.
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According to the Online Etymological Dictionary, tin ear, meaning "lack of musical discernment," has been around since 1909.
The Stack Exchange has a lively discussion on this phrase and throws out several theories on its origin, including:
- Ear trumpets made of tin
- Tin (plate) as cheap and nasty
- Tin instruments or dropped items made of tin sounding horrible
- A tale of using a piece of tin on a morse buzzer to amplify the sound
- Tinnitus
One intrepid Stack Exchange responder noted:
Changes were required.
Now, the poor fellow no longer has a tin ear but is tone deaf (which I found in an 1876 tome and an 1880 magazine... good enough for my purposes!).
The earliest record I can track of the use in print is in the novel Titan:A Romance, by Jean Paul Richter, published in translation from the German in 1863 and in the original language between 1800 and 1803.In that early 19th century novel, tin ear is synonymous with an ear trumpet. Alas, not the meaning I had in mind at all for my character who is in San Francisco in 1882.
Changes were required.
Now, the poor fellow no longer has a tin ear but is tone deaf (which I found in an 1876 tome and an 1880 magazine... good enough for my purposes!).
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| Not the tin ear I was hoping for, but pretty cool, nonetheless. A collapsible Victorian ear trumpet made of tin made by Atkinson, Union Court, Holborn, London See page for author / CC BY |
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4 comments:
I suspect that "tin ear" may have been a literal reference during the time period with which you are interested. The WWI facial masks were preceded by American Civil War versions, and artificial ears were advertised.
https://books.google.com/books?id=KIJMAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA323&lpg=PA323&dq=civil+war+artificial+ears&source=bl&ots=JOu_NDUq5o&sig=ACfU3U3YW5LcjHqhqx-lZu2S75szqpaNjA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjp7pqry_fpAhXPRDABHeXtA9AQ6AEwFXoECAEQAQ#v=onepage&q=civil%20war%20artificial%20ears&f=false
Your attention to detail is impressive, and one one of the reasons I love your books.
Hi Liz!
Wow... that's a fascinating article. Artificial ear-makers, nose-makers, and glass-eye makers (and leg stretchers). Thank you for the link. I've bookmarked it. :-) And yes, I think you're right about there being a literal "tin ear."
If you scroll down in the Stack Exchange exchange (https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/403055/where-does-tin-ear-come-from ) you'll see some amazing "ear-related" devices of old...
Hello Anonymous!
Thank you for dropping by, and thank you for the very kind comment. :-) I do what I can. It's a good thing I love to research...
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