# a tin/ a can?



## annief88

hi everyone,

I'd like to know whether there is a difference between "a tin" and "a can". I think that "a can" is for drinks and "a tin" for food. Is it true or can we use  the words interchangeably?

thanks for help!


----------



## UneHeureuxPommeDeTerre

Hi annie,

I've never really heard the expression "a tin". There is such thing as "a tin can", but I wouldn't really ever say "a tin". Many types of food come in cans, such as soup or vegetables, and they are called "canned goods". The only thing I can possibly think of that would work for "tin" is a "tin of sardines". Sardines tend to come in a strangely shaped can that I guess could be called a tin, but for the most part, I would just say "a can" as long as whatever you are talking about (drink OR food) comes in a can.


----------



## nzfauna

To me they may or may not be different things.

I would use both tin and can to refer to vessels of drink or food.

However, to me, a can is a particular shape (i.e. cylindrical - a cat food tin/can, or what tinned/canned fruit comes in). But a tin could be lots of different shapes (e.g. a coffee tin could be cylindrical, but a tin with tabacco in it, or a pill box could be square).

Then theres the phrase "a tin can" = a can made of tin, technically (but may refer to any can made of metal these days).


----------



## GreenWhiteBlue

Annie, there are regional differences here.

American speakers of English would tend not to use the word "tin" to refer to sealed metal containers of food or drink, but would refer to such things as "cans".

_I know you prefer beer in bottles, but they only had beer in cans._
_Susan bought a can of tuna fish and a can of fruit juice_.
_While you are at the store, get me a can of tomato paste and a can of corned beef hash._

The word "tin" would usually be reserved for a metallic food container that can be opened and closed frequently, such as a "biscuit tin".

_I like the Danish butter cookes that are sold in the round tin._


----------



## Packard

Originally all food cans were "tin cans".  That is, they were steel cans with a tin coating.  Tin is food-safe.  Other corrosion resistant finishes are not food safe.  

Currently you will find both "tin cans" and aluminum cans.  The aluminum cans are not coated, as the aluminum is food safe as it is.

In the USA I hear "tin can", "can" and "aluminum can" with great frequency.  I hear "tin" far less often and I suspect it is a term that is fading away.


----------



## Bella1

I've just checked my kitchen cupboard (London) - some marked 'cans' but also a few 'tins'. I buy tins of peaches. I think they're interchangeable in UK. Certainly 'a can of worms'


----------



## ewie

My (BE) usage coincides exactly with that of NZF, regarding shape.  The stuff contained in the _tins_ or _cans _is _tinned_ or _canned goods_.  I do however feel that _can_ may be winning the Tin vs. Can war in this country.


----------



## Packard

In the USA I never hear "tinned goods"; I hear "canned goods".  It could be regionalism, but I don't think so.


----------



## panjandrum

ewie said:


> My (BE) usage coincides exactly with that of NZF, regarding shape.  The stuff contained in the _tins_ or _cans _is _tinned_ or _canned goods_.  I do however feel that _can_ may be winning the Tin vs. Can war in this country.


I'm with ewie on most of this, but not the final point.
We still have tins here for peas, beans, soup, cat food, salmon, sardines, coconut milk, tomato puree, ... stopping there before I reveal  all of the contents of the panj family larder.
But, ewie, I can't believe that _canz _are really replacing _tinz _
_A million housewives every day
Pick up a can of beanz and say
..._
Oh my goodness! Could it be true? 
The end of the world as we know it.


----------



## Loob

Sadly, panj, I fear ewie is right.

Tinned food is old-fashioned, past its sell-by date.

Canned food, in contrast, is new(-ish) & exciting(-ish).


----------



## panjandrum

Loob said:


> Sadly, panj, I fear ewie is right.
> 
> Tinned food is old-fashioned, past its sell-by date.
> 
> Canned food, in contrast, is new(-ish) & exciting(-ish).


Really!
I think canned food is rotten.
It's been canned (thrown in the rubbish) or canned (severely criticised).
I'd better re-think.


----------



## ewie

Oops, I fear rumours of the death of _tin_ are being exaggerated, thanks to me.  What I should have said was: the cylindrical object that folks of, say, my and Loob's generation call indifferently _can/tin/tin_ _can_ (and which, he said conjecturingly, folks of Panjandrum's generation prefer to call _tin/tin can_), is nowadays called simply _can._
But I can't honestly imagine anyone in the UK referring to, for example, a small flat rectangular _tobacco tin_ as a _tobacco can_ ~ it just doesn't work.

I can't (or _tin't_) think of a clearer way of putting this.


----------



## cirrus

I agree tobacco or biscuit tins could be only tins so the shape theory makes sense to me.  Remember the little canisters for 35 mil film? Some people called them cans long after they stopped being made of metal.  

Unlike other BE speakers above, my impression is that tin is probably winning.  On a train I am more likely to ask for a tin of beer than a can.  I wonder whether this is this Australian influence - am I thinking tinny when I ask for a wee beer?


----------



## mplsray

GreenWhiteBlue said:


> Annie, there are regional differences here.
> 
> American speakers of English would tend not to use the word "tin" to refer to sealed metal containers of food or drink, but would refer to such things as "cans".
> 
> _I know you prefer beer in bottles, but they only had beer in cans._
> _Susan bought a can of tuna fish and a can of fruit juice_.
> _While you are at the store, get me a can of tomato paste and a can of corned beef hash._
> 
> The word "tin" would usually be reserved for a metallic food container that can be opened and closed frequently, such as a "biscuit tin".
> 
> _I like the Danish butter cookes that are sold in the round tin._


 
This is the same way I use "can" and "tin." It was only in recent years here in Minneapolis that we have been allowed to put tins alongside cans in recycling containers, because the machines used to process cans for recycling had not previously been able to deal with the thicker metal used in tins.


----------



## Alaor Santos

Hi everyone.

I was reading a text and they mentioned both, a tin of tomato soup and a tin of tomatoes. What is the difference, please? 

http://www.casadoalan.com/QA_14_At_the_grocers.html

Thank you


----------



## ewie

Hi Alaor.  I've merged your question with a previous thread on the subject ~ lots of lovely answers above.


----------



## Nunty

Alaor Santos said:


> Hi everyone.
> 
> I was reading a text and they mentioned both, a tin of tomato soup and a tin of tomatoes. What is the difference, please?
> 
> http://www.casadoalan.com/QA_14_At_the_grocers.html
> 
> Thank you



One has tomatoes in it (a solid food), the other has tomato soup in it (a liquid food).


----------



## Aidanriley

ewie said:


> Hi Alaor. I've merged your question with a previous thread on the subject ~ lots of lovely answers above.


 
I believe he/she edited his/her post, and it now has nothing to do with the above . Also, hi!


----------



## Loob

Just to echo what Nunty said...

Here's the contents of a tin of tomatoes, Alaor: click

And here's the contents of a tin of tomato soup: click2


----------



## ewie

Ah there seems to be a bit of confusion here ~ Alaor originally seemed to be asking about the difference between _can_ and _tin_, hence the thread-merging.


----------



## JulianStuart

Packard said:


> In the USA I never hear "tinned goods"; I hear "canned goods".  It could be regionalism, but I don't think so.



Just in case someone is not yet completely bamboozled by the term "canned goods", I was surprised to find that in the US, at the end of the harvest one can preserve things like fruit by "canning" - into bottles and jars  Thus, the term "canned goods" goes beyond the limitations of tins and cans to encompass "preserved" food items.  In the UK, in my childhood era, my mother used to preserve fruit by "bottling" it, admittedly into large jars but never confessed to "jarring" fruit  Talk about regionalisms and idiosyncrasies


----------



## Pastoretta

I think it's a regional difference. I would buy a tin of coke, which I believe is still said in South Africa, unless the Americans have colonized the country! To us, a can was always what Americans would say when we said "tins" e.g. for coke or beans or whatever.


----------



## dec-sev

Hello.


> Please note that there are two spellings of jewellery so you need to decide on your audience:
> 
> Jewellery = BE
> Jewelry= AE


Source.


This makes me think of the following:
I guess the difference in vocabulary between AE and BE was more distinct in the past, but with television and internet everything has mixed up to a certain extent. My dictionary says that _can_ (a can of Coca-Cola, for example), is AE while “a tin” is its British counterpart. I believe that a British will understand “can” but my question is about the use of in BE. Has “a can” penetrated into BE and do the British themselves _use_ the word?


----------



## nzfauna

In NZE (variant of BE):

Can and tin are interchangeable for some (perhaps most?) items, e.g a can of tuna, a tin or tuna; a can of cat food, a tin of cat food.

Sometimes they are not interchangeable, e.g.  soft drink is always in a can, never in a tin.


----------



## Aardvark01

I'd say a *can* of pop/beans *or* a *tin* of pop/beans interchangeably, but: 
1/ I'd *favour* saying "I'll eat the beans straight from the *can*" (ie. once the top of the tin is open)
2/ since 'coke' and 'can' begin with 'c' it's less natural to say a tin of coke  
3/ certain idoms demand *can* not *tin*. eg. A *can* of worms


----------



## natkretep

I use them interchangeably, but am more likely to use _tin_ than _can_: a _tin_ of baked beans, a _can_ of beer. (Interestingly, Malay has borrowed 'tin' and so there is no choice there.) As mentioned, for dried items, only _tin_ is possible (as in a _tin_ of cocoa, a _tin_ of Ovaltine [powdered malt drink], a biscuit _tin_).

We also talk about baking _tins_. (I think Americans call them baking _pans_. Can an AmE speaker please verify?)


----------



## kitenok

> (I think Americans call them baking _pans_. Can an AmE speaker please verify?)


 
Yes, this would be a baking pan, while this shallower version would be a baking sheet or a cookie sheet.


----------



## natkretep

Thanks, kitenok. Yes, the ones with the raised sides are _baking tins_ (or even _cake tins_) in BrE, and the shallow ones are _baking trays_.


----------



## pickarooney

I would always use 'can' for beer or soft drinks. I think there is a rural/urban or generational split on this as 'tin of orange' is, or at least, was more common when I was younger.

I'd say for food in a sealed metal cyclinder, I would use can/tin very much interchangeably.

If it's not cyclindrical, it's not a can (unless it's an oval watering can...).


----------



## EdisonBhola

nzfauna said:


> To me they may or may not be different things.
> 
> I would use both tin and can to refer to vessels of drink or food.


So it's correct to say "a tin of Coca Cola" or "a tin of Fanta"?


----------



## Packard

Only because it seems not to have been mentioned earlier...

There are two types of metal cans available for food:  Aluminum cans, used mostly for beverages, and steel cans made from tin coated steel.  It is from this tin coating that the term "tin" is derived.

Oh, and there are the transparent aluminum cans...


----------



## Myridon

Packard said:


> There are two types of metal cans available for food:  Aluminum cans, used mostly for beverages, and steel cans made from tin coated steel.  It is from this tin coating that the term "tin" is derived.


Tin can - Wikipedia


> No cans currently in wide use are composed primarily or wholly of tin; that term rather reflects the nearly exclusive use in cans, *until the second half of the 20th century*, of tinplate steel which combined the physical strength and relatively low price of steel with the corrosion resistance of tin. Depending on the contents and available coatings, tin-free steel is also used.
> In some locations any metal can, even aluminium, might be called a "tin can".


----------



## Andygc

EdisonBhola said:


> So it's correct to say "a tin of Coca Cola" or "a tin of Fanta"?


It depends where you are when you say them. It works here.


----------



## Andygc

Packard said:


> Only because it seems not to have been mentioned earlier...


Post 5?


----------



## Dale Texas

For something like sardines, kippers, oysters, etc. in small flattish metallic containers, I don't refer to the metal at all, since that is understood.

I've always heard -- and used -- the word "pack", just as I do for cigarettes or a deck of cards and for the same reason: It denotes the small and lays-flat nature of the object.

"I bought two packs of sardines, and one of oysters."


----------



## Loob

EdisonBhola said:


> So it's correct to say "a tin of Coca Cola" or "a tin of Fanta"?


Not for me: they'd both be "cans".


----------



## zaffy

To open this, Americans would need a can opener. How about Brits? A can or tin opener?






A Polish-English dictionary says it would be a tin opener, correct?


----------



## kentix

Two things.

1. In the U.S., that would be called a canned ham.

2. It would generally come with its own opener. In the past, it was a dedicated, key-shaped thing.




That specialized key thing would not be called a can opener since it wouldn't open normal cans.
Now it appears many have a pull tab.


----------



## Wordy McWordface

Either 'tin-opener' or 'can-opener' is fine in BrE. We use both terms. I wouldn't want to hazard a guess at which is more common, but they are certainly equally understandable and equally acceptable in a BrE context.


----------



## ewie

I still call my can-opener a _tin-opener_, regardless of whether I'm opening a tin or a can with it


----------



## zaffy

Wordy McWordface said:


> Either 'tin-opener' or 'can-opener' is fine in BrE. We use both terms.





ewie said:


> I still call my can-opener a _tin-opener_, regardless of whether I'm opening a tin or a can with it


And the ham in #37 was packed into a can or tin in BE?


----------



## Loob

zaffy said:


> And the ham in #37 was packed into a can or tin in BE?


Supermarkets, unsurprisingly*, call it a can.

_* see various posts above._


----------



## Andygc

Loob said:


> Supermarkets, unsurprisingly*, call it a can.


Do they? I tried searching on the Waitrose website, and the only search that reliably found tins of ham was "tinned ham". Using "canned ham", "tin ham" and "can ham" found all manner of other versions of ham and bacon, mostly not in tins (or cans). The Tesco website gave me _No products found for "canned ham"_ - and the same for "can ham" - but found several for "tinned ham" and "tin ham".

I call zaffy's Polish ham a tin of ham.


----------



## Packard

Apparently "tin" is the operative word for pipe tobacco packaging.  

tin of tobacco - Google Search


----------



## lingobingo

Like Andygc, I’m surprised by Loob’s obviously firm conviction that we Brits now say *can* rather than *tin*. So I’ve just check six UK online supermarkets and found that in their relevant “food cupboard” sections, 5 of them use both words (e.g. tins, cans & packets) and one (Asda) doesn’t use the word *can* at all but refers to “Tinned Food”.


----------



## Packard

The common coatings for steel are nickel, tin, chrome, brass and zinc.

Zinc is dangerous to cook with and brass contains both copper and zinc.  So brass and zinc are never used for canned goods.

Nickel, tin and chrome are all safe for food preparation.  But chrome is brittle and cannot be formed into cans.  

Nickel and tin would work, but tin is less expensive.  So tin wins out.  

 Most foods are heated in the can to kill bacteria.

Aluminum cans have a special coating to prevent contamination with the contents.


----------



## velisarius

I suggest that a metal container with a screw-on or lift-off lid (like a biscuit tin or a tin of coffee or tobacco, is normally a "tin" - in BE at least. You don't require a special instrument to cut them open and get at the contents.

Liquids are odd: I'd use a "tin" of evaporated milk, a "can" of beer, but a "beer-can".


----------



## Packard

The film industry also used "cans" to house the reels holding the film.  The phrase "in the can" means the film is complete, edited, and ready for broadcast or projection.

The unexposed film arrives in a can and once developed and edited it is placed in a can.

This is old technology and I don't think film is used for movie making anymore.  

Here is a can containing the Disney animated film "Fantasia".  The full phrase embossed on the can reads, "THIS CAN MADE BY EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY".


----------



## Loob

I clearly need to justify my post 42...

Before posting it, I'd checked various websites and found things like:
ASDA Premium lean ham - each 1/7 of a can contains...
Sainsbury Lean Ham, can 340g
Princes Canned Ham, delicious and ready to use straight from the can or as an ingredient in a variety of dishes.

I was rather sorry to see this, so I'm delighted that there are counter-examples


----------



## zaffy

So this is a "biscuit tin" (BrE) or a "cookie tin" (AmE), right?


----------



## abluter

Just to confuse the issue even further, people used to refer to "tin cans", as in "In one corner of the farmyard was a pile of old tin cans".


----------



## Packard

I would call that a "can of cookies".  But I understand that the British call that a "tin of biscuits".

Strangely enough, the cookie salesmen (wholesale, to the trade) are referred to, in the trade as "biscuit salesmen".

A friend of mine was "the top biscuit salesman in the USA" (according to himself).  I thought he sold buttermilk biscuits.


----------



## heypresto

zaffy said:


> So this is a "biscuit tin" (BrE)


Yes, or a tin of biscuits. It's a biscuit tin when empty, and a tin of biscuits when full.


----------



## velisarius

Packard said:


> can of cookies


 Yes, I suspected as much. As a kid were you ever caught with your hand in the cookie jar, Packard?


----------



## zaffy

heypresto said:


> It's a biscuit tin when empty, and a tin of biscuits when full.


Oh, I didn't realise that. Thanks a lot.


----------



## Roxxxannne

zaffy said:


> So this is a "biscuit tin" (BrE) or a "cookie tin" (AmE), right?
> 
> View attachment 64782


It's definitely a cookie tin in my AmE.


----------



## zaffy

Roxxxannne said:


> It's definitely a cookie tin in my AmE.


But when it is empty, right?


----------



## Packard

I think you can call it a cookie tin even when there are some cookies in it.

_Are there any cookies left in the cookie tin?  Yes, a few. _


----------



## Roxxxannne

It's a cookie tin when I am talking about the container:
Hand me that cookie tin (it might or might not have cookies in it).
and a tin of cookies when I am focusing on the contents:
I brought a tin of cookies to the party (presumably I brought a full, unopened tin containing lots of cookies).


----------



## kentix

I pulled this out of my cupboard.





I'd call this a tin. It's obviously old because the price says $1.79. The going price now seems to be $5 - $8.


----------



## zaffy

One thing still confuses me. Does shape matter? Some Brits did admit here in this thread that it does. Or is it a matter of personal preference? Here we can see three shapes.

I believe these are all "cans" in AE, no matter what the shape is, right? How about BE?


----------



## kentix

They are hermetically sealed and to me that makes them cans in the hypothetical sense. I would call that a canned ham. But I'm not sure I would call the actual container a can. (But I wouldn't call it a tin either.)


----------



## zaffy

kentix said:


> But I'm not sure I would call the actual container a can.


Why not? I'm lost. So what is a can for you?


----------



## kentix

Cans are generally round with a uniform cross-section that allows the use of a standard can opener.

These might be considered within the category of "canned goods", but I'm not sure I'd call it a can either.


----------



## zaffy

kentix said:


> Cans are generally round with a uniform cross-section that allows the use of a can opener.


All of the them (#63) need a can opener. There's no tab.


----------



## Roxxxannne

I might not call the thing that the ham came in a 'can' either.  I might just say 'container.'  But if there were one sitting on the kitchen counter and someone said "Can (haha) you put that can in the recycling?" I'd know what they meant. And I would not call the ham container a tin.


----------



## Packard

kentix said:


> Cans are generally round with a uniform cross-section that allows the use of a standard can opener.


Sardines come in cans.  Those cans are rarely round.


----------



## kentix

Packard said:


> Sardines come in cans.


See my.#66.


----------



## heypresto

In BE, or at least, for me, all those containers in #63 are tins. Sardines come in tins too.

Were I to drink the stuff, I would call this a _can _of Coke:


----------



## zaffy

kentix said:


> These might be considered within the category of "canned goods", but I'm not sure I'd call it a can either.


Can you paste a picture of what you consider a can?


----------



## zaffy

heypresto said:


> Were I to drink the stuff, I would call this a can of Coke:


And this is a can as well in BE, right? A can of paint, right?


----------



## kentix

Yes, that's a can. Cans are generally cylindrical.


----------



## zaffy

And can you please tell me what Americans and Britons see here? What do you call coffee or tea that comes in these?


----------



## heypresto

zaffy said:


> And this is a can as well in BE, right? A can of paint, right?


Right. Or a tin.


----------



## heypresto

zaffy said:


> And can you please tell me what Americans and Britons see here?



The tea is in a tin. 

What is the coffee container made of?


----------



## zaffy

heypresto said:


> What is the coffee container made of?



Metal, with a plastic lid.


----------



## Roxxxannne

The Lavazza container is definitely a can (of coffee, I presume).

I would call the tea container a box of tea. But I have purchased hoity-toity loose teas at great expense online, and I believe that the American company that sold them called their containers tins.


----------



## zaffy

heypresto said:


> Right. Or a tin.


So both of these work, right?

_Do you think these two cans are enough to paint this room?
Do you think these two tins are enough to paint this room?



_


----------



## heypresto

If the coffee container is made of a metal, then yes, it's a can.


----------



## zaffy

A dog's food comes in tins or cans in BE?


----------



## Loob

_Tins _for me. And for ASDA.

Sainsbury's uses both terms on the same page.


----------



## PaulQ

We have not yet discussed


----------



## zaffy

Petrol can? Intetersting. Neither cylindrical nor made of metal.


----------



## kentix

But what if I told you this was the original form of a gas can?


----------



## PaulQ

zaffy said:


> Neither cylindrical nor made of metal.


That's mainly because the language has not caught up with technology (Compare references to a telephone: "He hung up on me": "hanging up" is what you did to an ear-piece on a 1930s' phone, and "I dialled his number" but modern phones have no dial.) Petrol cans were originally metal.

The noun "can" appeared in Old English about 1,300 years ago, and was any vessel for holding liquid - it usually had a handle and was made of anything that would hold that liquid. The tin did not appear until the 19th century when it referred to any vessels that contained a liquid and that were made if tin.

The tin, in the current sense, appeared in the early to mid 19th century when cans were coated with tin to prevent them rusting.

To that extent, a tin is a type of can. However, over the last 150 years or so, in BE, *tin *and *can *and *tin can* have all become more or less interchangeable as a general description: "A tin of peaches" does not differ from "a can of peaches."

And again, technology has overtaken "tin" as the metal, tin, is rarely used now.


----------



## Roxxxannne

In #84: The BrE 'baking tin' is a 'loaf pan' in AmE.


----------



## heypresto

In BE, I'm more familiar with it being called a 'loaf tin.'


----------



## zaffy

In Polish we say a "can after paint" to refer to an empty can. For example, "I made a nice flower pot from a can after paint". How would you put it in English? Does this work? "I made a nice flower pot from an empty paint can".


----------



## zaffy

Myridon said:


> Now I have to ask: What do you call a paint can that has never had paint in it?


I see your point with Polish using "after". I guess I would need to describe the thing. For example, "Mum, can you get me a can like the one paint comes in?" Or perhaps "a can for paint"


----------



## elroy

PaulQ said:


> We have not yet discussed
> 
> View attachment 64791


Also:


----------



## zaffy

Roxxxannne said:


> It's definitely a cookie tin in my AmE.




Looks like things are not that easy for non-natives. See this.


----------



## Packard

The overhead sign in Aisle 8 in my local supermarket store offered Canned Soup, Canned Seafood, and Canned Vegetables.  

Would they say Tinned Soup, Tinned Seafood and Tinned Veggies if this store was in the UK?


----------



## Myridon

zaffy said:


> Looks like things are not that easy for non-natives. See this.
> View attachment 64812


This man seems to have confused a "cookie tin" (a container with a lid that comes with cookies in it) with "cookie sheet" (a flat pan with very low sides" with "cake pan" or "baking dish" (the thing in the picture).  Perhaps you shouldn't go to potters for cooking advice.


----------



## abluter

Yes, Packard, post #92, "tinned" in each case.


----------



## PaulQ

zaffy said:


> Looks like things are not that easy for non-natives.


I think the fault is in the subtitles - it probably should be "cooking tin" (although in the UK that is a *roasting* tin.)


----------



## Myridon

PaulQ said:


> I think the fault is in the subtitles - it probably should be "cooking tin" (although in the UK that is a *roasting* tin.)


I should have mentioned that he's not British.  It can't be "cooking tin".


----------



## PaulQ

It doesn't look like anything that you'd make cookies/biscuits in...


----------



## elroy

Indeed.  Did you read this?


Myridon said:


> This man seems to have confused a "cookie tin" (a container with a lid that comes with cookies in it) with "cookie sheet" (a flat pan with very low sides" with "cake pan" or "baking dish" (the thing in the picture). Perhaps you shouldn't go to potters for cooking advice.


----------



## Loob

abluter said:


> Yes, Packard, post #92, "tinned" in each case.


except when it's "canned"





Source: Sainsbury's lists foods that could go missing over border crisis


----------



## Myridon

Cookie tin



Cookie sheet


 about 45cm x 66cm x 2.5cm (18in x 25in x 1in)

Square 8" Cake pan (what he seems to have in the picture)


 about 20cm x 20cm x 7cm (8in x 8in x 3in)


----------



## PaulQ

Whereas I saw this:


----------



## juanitainfante

annief88 said:


> hi everyone,
> 
> I'd like to know whether there is a difference between "a tin" and "a can". I think that "a can" is for drinks and "a tin" for food. Is it true or can we use  the words interchangeably?
> 
> thanks for help!


Hello everyone,

My husband speaks British English. Him, and all those that speak British English, “a can of tuna” is “a tin of tuna”. They use the word “tin” when in the USA we use the word “can”.


----------



## juanitainfante

dec-sev said:


> Hello.Source.
> 
> 
> This makes me think of the following:
> I guess the difference in vocabulary between AE and BE was more distinct in the past, but with television and internet everything has mixed up to a certain extent. My dictionary says that _can_ (a can of Coca-Cola, for example), is AE while “a tin” is its British counterpart. I believe that a British will understand “can” but my question is about the use of in BE. Has “a can” penetrated into BE and do the British themselves _use_ the word?


The British understand if “a can” is used, but they use “a tin”. My husband speaks BE.


----------



## Myridon

PaulQ said:


> Whereas I saw this:
> View attachment 64970​


Those wouldn't fit in that little microwave.  Regardless, in American English, those aren't "tins" but "pans" so the American speaker calling it  "cookie/cooking tin" is very odd.


----------



## juanitainfante

zaffy said:


> A dog's food comes in tins or cans in BE?
> 
> View attachment 64790


In BE those are called “tins”.


----------



## Wordy McWordface

juanitainfante said:


> In BE those are called “tins”.


Not necessarily. We also use 'can' in British English.

We always talk about cans of drinks, e.g. 'can of beer', and many people here also say 'can of tuna', 'can of soup' and so on. In the UK, the younger a person is, the more likely they are to choose 'can' over 'tin'.

And here's an article from the BBC:
10 best canned food recipes | BBC Good Food


----------



## cirrus

zaffy said:


> In Polish we say a "can after paint" to refer to an empty can. For example, "I made a nice flower pot from a can after paint". How would you put it in English? Does this work? "I made a nice flower pot from an empty paint can".


BE speaker here I would probably say something like I made it from either an empty/used paint tin / can of paint.


----------



## natkretep

I think I could also probably use tin or can for paint.

I think everybody says a _tin_ of biscuits and a biscuit tin, don't they?

We also have powdered malted drinks like Ovaltine and Milo, and they're always tins as well.


----------



## M. Parker

annief88 said:


> hi everyone,
> 
> I'd like to know whether there is a difference between "a tin" and "a can". I think that "a can" is for drinks and "a tin" for food. Is it true or can we use  the words interchangeably?
> 
> thanks for help!


To me, as an old fashioned person from northern England, it's tins for food and cans for drinks. Though I would say canned food as opposed to tinned food!


----------



## Wordy McWordface

Just today I saw a poster about metal recycling produced by our local council. It had a list which began _Tins, cans,........  _

The list covered everything from this, which we call a tin...




and this, which we call a can:
_

_
... to this, which we could call either a tin or a can:


----------



## glamorgan

I preserve food using techniques described in American books and using American equipment. I “can” the foods in special glass jars and I process them in a pressure canner. According to the cover image on one of my books it will instruct the reader in “Everything you need to know *to can* meats, vegetables, meals in a *jar*...”.


----------



## kentix

Yes, the process has always been called canning. But the standard container is a glass Mason jar. I think it took they place of metal cans in home use.

Mason jar - Wikipedia


----------



## lingobingo

PaulQ said:


> I think the fault is in the subtitles - it probably should be "cooking tin" (although in the UK that is a *roasting* tin.)


No it’s not. It’s a loaf tin – for baking sliceable cakes such as a banana loaf or ginger cake.


----------



## Myridon

natkretep said:


> I think everybody says a _tin_ of biscuits and a biscuit tin, don't they?


Everybody who uses "biscuit" to mean "cookie."


lingobingo said:


> No it’s not. It’s a loaf tin – for baking sliceable cakes such as a banana loaf or ginger cake.


If we're still talking about #91, it's not shaped like a loaf (it's square and it's not deep enough - it would make a square, flat-ish loaf, not a rectangular, tall loaf).


----------



## lingobingo

I was responding to the comment of PaulQ’s that I quoted, which referred to the picture in #82.


----------



## natkretep

Myridon said:


> Everybody who uses "biscuit" to mean "cookie."


Fair point. But it's a 'cookie tin' and a 'tin of cookies', isn't it, for you?


----------



## jamesjaime

In the UK:

a tin / a can / a tin can (all interchangeable) = for food (e.g. baked beans, soup etc). A can of beans, a tin of beans, a tin can of beans.

a can = for drinks (e.g. Coca-cola, beer etc). A can of Coke, a can of beer.


----------



## heypresto

jamesjaime said:


> a tin can of beans.


 I've never come across this before. Maybe it's a northern English thing?


----------



## jamesjaime

heypresto said:


> I've never come across this before. Maybe it's a northern English thing?


Yes it might well be!


----------



## Wordy McWordface

heypresto said:


> I've never come across this before. Maybe it's a northern English thing?


I'm from the north, and I've never heard anyone say 'a tin can of beans'.
A tin of beans? Yes.
A can of beans? Yes. Becoming more common in these globalised times.
A tin can?  OK. If you really want to make it clear what the metal object is.
A tin can of beans? As in _Pop to the corner shop, will you, love? Get me a tin can of beans? _Really? I can't imagine it. What's the point of the extra word?


----------



## kentix

My personal experience is that over the course of my lifetime the word tin has increasingly been omitted. It's probably a combination of simplification, since the word "can" is sufficient in American English to make the meaning clear, and the fact that cans are no longer made of tin and haven't been for decades. It seems kind of silly to call them tin cans.

Here is the ngram for American English.





The part up to 2000 seems right to me. I wondered about the subsequent jump and if you look at the references there are many recent books about destroyers [ships] in WW2 that were colloquially called "tin cans". There were also quite a few more figurative uses, where it was sort of a synonym for do-it-yourself. There was even a metallurgy-related hit for the sentence "tin can be used...". So I think my impression that's it's basically obsolete in U.S. English as a standard reference for a food container in everyday life is correct.


----------



## Wordy McWordface

I wonder what effect Bowie's Space Oddity had on that ngram from 1969 onwards? When I think of 'tin can', I can't help humming "Here I am, sitting in my tin can, Far above the world".


----------



## Myridon

While I probably wouldn't say "I want a tin can of beans.", I could say "Do you want the beans that come in a packet or the beans that come in a tin can?"


----------



## kentix

Which do you prefer - frozen peas or canned peas?


----------



## Wordy McWordface

kentix said:


> Which do you prefer - frozen peas or canned peas?


Tinned peas


----------



## kentix

I find it hard to bite through the tin.


----------



## heypresto

When it comes to worms, it's _always _a can.


----------



## JulianStuart

Wordy McWordface said:


> I wonder what effect Bowie's Space Oddity had on that ngram from 1969 onwards? When I think of 'tin can', I can't help humming "Here I am, sitting in my tin can, Far above the world".


I think of the things dragged behind the car of a "Just married" couple


----------



## AlpheccaStars

My dad worked in the steel industry and they had a research department developing steel cans that would be safe for food storage. They developed "tinplate" steel. I assume that the word "tin" came from this. 
As a child, I went with him and the whole family on a business trip to Hawaii. He was working on some knotty alloy problem with the pineapple industry. This fruit was pretty acidic for being stored or sold in cans and needed a special acid-resistance coating.


----------



## kentix

JulianStuart said:


> I think of the things dragged behind the car of a "Just married" couple


I just think cans.



AlpheccaStars said:


> They developed "tinplate" steel. I assume that the word "tin" came from this.



This is from Wikipedia:

No cans currently in wide use are composed primarily or wholly of tin; that term rather reflects the nearly exclusive use in cans, until the second half of the 20th century, of tinplate steel, which combined the physical strength and relatively low price of steel with the corrosion resistance of tin. Depending on contents and available coatings, some canneries still use tin-free steel.​


----------



## Myridon

kentix said:


> Which do you prefer - frozen peas or canned peas?


Canned peas


----------



## Wordy McWordface

Myridon said:


> Canned peas
> View attachment 66117


That is not a can.

Would it prompt any American kid to say "But _mom..._that ain't a can!" ?


----------



## Myridon

Wordy McWordface said:


> That is not a can.


It is canned peas. Peas that have been through the canning process. Home-canned things are stored in jars. I'm pretty sure this was covered earlier in the thread.


----------



## JulianStuart

Wordy McWordface said:


> That is not a can.


Standard AE/BE difference : generally, AE doesn't like the noun "tin" for the metal containers they call cans and BE doesn't like the verb "can" to describe preserving in glass containers


----------



## kentix

The process (in the U.S.) is called canning but I don't think the result is. That is a Mason jar and therefore that is a jar of peas.


----------



## Myridon

kentix said:


> The process (in the U.S.) is called canning but I don't think the result is. That is a Mason jar and therefore that is a jar of peas.


It is a jar of canned peas. It is not a jar of frozen peas, fresh peas, ... It is canned peas.


----------



## Wordy McWordface

Someone should have a word with the folks at the Cambridge dictionary:

Can: verb
to put food and drink into a closed metal container without air:

can


----------



## Myridon

can - WordReference.com Dictionary of English


> 7 to preserve (food) by sealing in a can, *jar*, etc. : She canned the strawberries in summer.


----------

