Learn English – What’s the difference between a can and a tin

differencenouns

I always thought 'tin' and 'can' to mean about the same thing, guessing maybe these are regional names. Then I encountered this:

French MRE

Inside are 2 precooked, ready-to-eat main courses packed in cans and an hors d'oeuvre packed in a can or tin.

I tried Google Images to try discerning the difference but I spot no obvious ones.

What is the difference between a can and a tin?

Best Answer

An American English speaker here. A can is cylindrical. A tin is usually rectangular, lower than it is wide (rather flat), and almost exclusively used for containing preserved fish, e.g. "a tin of sardines" and "a tin of kippered herring".

Also, we very specifically use the phrase cookie tin to refer to a squat cylindrical metal box of particular dimensions for selling cookies.

I'm not sure this feat is reproducible from computers in other locales, but when I (in Boston, MA, USA) put "a tin of" (in quotes like that) into google image search, most of the first hits are open tins of fish, a few open metal boxes of Spam (hmm, yes, if I ever had occasion to discuss Spam, I suppose I would refer to its container as a tin and not a can because to me can means round and Spam is in a rectangular box), and a round box of cookies.

I don't know if this actually answers what might be your real question: what does the French government think the difference between can and tin is. That may be something else entirely. Governments use words their own ways.

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