It’s a pretty standard phrase in British English. Let’s say you asked me “What’s wood glue supposed to do?”, and I couldn’t really give you a more elaborate answer than “Well, I mean, it glues wood together”, I would say “It does what it says on the tin”. It can also be used to specify something that’s transparent, straightforward, no-frills and gets the job done.
I always assumed it was a common and universal phrase in the English language that was centuries old (or at least, goes back as far as the invention of the tin can), but apparently it dates back to an [ad campaign from the 90s.](https://youtu.be/f8v_RqanM74?si=Da2ika4d9Sl-3hXE)? Does that mean it’s exclusively a Britishism?
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No we wouldn’t say “tin”, probably “can”.
Yeah that’s not really used here, but I think it would be understood by most people.
You’d hear phrases like these instead:
– It speaks for itself.
– Goes without saying.
– Clear as day
I have heard it here occasionally, which is odd because we say “can” instead of “tin”. But conversely I have never heard “does what it says on the can/box/package/whatever”.
In general though, no, it isn’t common to say that here and we don’t have an equivalent phrase that I’m aware of.
I don’t think I would ever say it but I have heard it and the meaning is pretty self evident. I’m not sure how it would need any kind of explanation.
I’ve used that phrase myself. I don’t hear it often, but if I did, I wouldn’t think of it as foreign. It’s probably more common to say something is “self-explanatory”.
Canadian with a lot of American friends/travels. I use it both literally and figuratively, and I just realized I picked it up from talking to British people and reading books by British authors. I do think it’s self explanatory though. “i’ve also heard “What it says on the box.”
I would understand it fine. I feel like I’ve heard it before often enough but I’m not sure when or where exactly.
I think most Americans would understand it easily for anything that comes in a tin/ can. For things that don’t it would be a little less obvious, but probably still understood.
I’m guessing “tin cans”, as we used to call them in the past, didn’t come with any kind of instructions on them for many years after they were invented. Unless you mean the name of the item is the instruction.
When we shortened the name (and tin disappeared) we shortened it to “can”, not “tin”. So we have “canned vegetables”, and “canned soup”, and such. We talk about full and empty cans.
I sometimes say “it does what it says it does”.
No but I think everyone would understand
I use it fairly frequently.
I’ve never heard it before, but I would guess that the meaning is, well, what it says on the tin
I wouldn’t use it because “tin” is not a word that’s in the common pop vocabulary on this side of the pond, it’s very conspicuously British.
I really enjoy this kind of stuff. Most British English lies in this neat valley where it’s clearly foreign but also instantly intelligible. Cheers!
I’m very surprised to see people saying that they’ve heard and/or used it here. It’s not a phrase I’ve ever heard or would expect to hear here. I wouldn’t say it. I would however understand it. At one point cans were called Tin Cans (or aluminum cans) it seems we dropped the word tin and kept can and our cousins across the pond dropped can and kept tin. For me things like Danish Butter Cookies or Christmas caramel popcorn come in a tin but not something like soup which comes in a can, and paint or wood stain comes in either a bucket or can, never a tin.
I’ve both heard it and used it.
I’ve heard the phrase rendered as “does what it says on the bottle” a few times but it’s not a common expression in my experience
I do, but I say “it does what it says on the box”. That said, I don’t remember exactly where I picked it up but there’s a solid chance it was from Top Gear.
I’ve never heard it before. People don’t say tin here but I understand that to be a food container. I might be puzzled about glue and tins.
I’ve heard and used “Does what it says on the box.”
I’ve never heard that expression before but I’d understand what you meant by it. It does come across as sort of a “dickish” reply though and that’s coming from someone who lives in an area where almost all exchanges are shrouded in some degree of animosity.
I’d say “Does what it says on the label.” And yes, I know what the British phrase means.
I do but i picked it up from the Brits.
I’m British and this question makes me feel old! I didn’t realise younger people might not know this was from the Ronseal advert… I’ve literally heard people say, “it’s a Ronseal job” or “we need to Ronseal it” as in, ‘make it painfully obvious, like on the advert’.
I say can not tin. I would assume you mean exactly that. We also have RTFM. But it’s more of a computer nerd thing than main stream.
I’ve used it before but I picked it up from a couple British friends.
It’s not a super common phrase but I think most people would figure it out from context.
We would say “it speaks for itself.” Which comes from the old Latin phrase “res ipsa loquitor.” It doesn’t have quite the same meaning.
The better fit might be just saying “it’s self-explanatory.”
I learned it from tvtropes. Assumed it was Hollywood insider talk rather than British. TIL.
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin
I actually use this phrase a lot and now I’m learning from this thread that I might be weird?
I use it regularly, but I don’t think it’s very common anymore in my generation (young millennial/old gen Z)
I think i learned it from my dad, or just from TV in the early 2000s i’m not sure. I wouldn’t have classified it as a british thing – even though we don’t use the word “tin” much to refer to actual packaging people still know what it means and have heard the idiom.
Of course. That phrase does what it says on the tin.
No, we don’t use it. We don’t use “tin” as a word to describe a container, except in very specific scenarios, so it wouldn’t really make sense. Mints in metal packaging or chewing tobacco are the only things I can think of that are described as coming in a tin.
I use it all the time.
It’s a British-ism, but I’ve definitely started using it after picking it up somewhere (probably from Great British Bake-Off).
You can tell it’s not an Americanism because we call them cans, not tins.
It’s gained a little popularity in certain circles for reasons I’m not sure of. Maybe the Altoids have something to do with it but before that, nobody used it.
I use that phrase frequently, for subjects that squarely meet the communicated expectations. But I say can instead of tin.
I think I’ve heard that phrase in-person twice before. I wouldn’t use it but would understand what it means. I’d say that it’s self-explanatory.
I’ve never heard anyone say “what’s it say on the _____ [usually not “tin”]” unless the person they’re speaking to is actually holding a ______, but the meaning is at least pretty obvious. “Who’s he when he’s at home” confused me at first.
Pretty much no one uses the word “tin” like that. So it would be weird but understandable
>”does what it says on the tin”
That phrasing seems kind of wordy, or cumbersome.
‘Lives up to its name’
‘Works as promised’
are more common phrases to affirm the product works as intended.
As an American I do use the phrase bit it’s not at all common here and I usually get some confused looks.
I wouldn’t use the phrase but I know what it means.
“Just follow the directions”
I picked it up as a fun phrase that I sprinkle in bc I watch too much British television but if someone asked me what wood glue does I’d probably respond “exactly what you’d think it does”.
I recognize it, but I’d never say it nor have I heard it said in the US