Tinhorn vs. Greenhorn

I thought that this might be a fresh topic, but my research shows that other sites (some quite famous) also explore today's two words: tinhorn and greenhorn. The stories are always the same, and I won't be bucking the trend today.

Greenhorn -- This is the easy one. The term was originally applied to young adult animals with new or "green" horns. Today, the term is applied to an inexperienced person or one that does not know the local customs, laws, etc. If the term "newbie" fits, then so does "greenhorn." Date this word to 1682.

Tinhorn -- Although I could find just one explanation for the origin of this term, it wasn't a very easy one to track down. For instance, Merriam Webster has the definition but is silent on the origin. But since I can find no competing theories for how this term came about, I will side with the majority.

"Tinhorn" refers to a gambler who tries to cheat you. Gamblers needed only a deck of cards to work their magic, but if they could scrape together a few bucks, they could branch out into other games. The chuck-a-luck is a good choice. It is easy to make. It is portable (sometimes in the old West, you had to get out of town by sundown). It can be rigged to cheat.

You have probably seen a chuck-a-luck. They have them at every charity casino night. A chuck-a-luck is shaped a lot like an egg timer or hour glass, but it uses wire instead of glass, and it has three dice. There is usually a handle on the side. After the bets are put down, the operator turns the chuck-a-luck round a few times, the dice go flying, and when it stops, hopefully, somebody wins.

The ends of the chuck-a-luck were made of leather (good ones) or tin (cheap ones). None of the sites that I visited said that if the chuck-a-luck used leather, then the gambler was known as a leatherhorn, but every one of them said that if it was made with cheap tin, then the gambler was known as a tinhorn.

So today, a cheap gambler who is likely to cheat you is known as a tinhorn gambler.

I told you that "tinhorn" wasn't so easy. Whew!!

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