Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Old-fashioned; worn-out.
- adjective Insignificant; unimportant.
- adjective Of cheap or poor quality; makeshift.
- noun One that is regarded as old-fashioned, worn-out, insignificant, or cheap in quality.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Of
poor orinferior quality ;hokey ;sloppy ;chintzy ;small ;flimsy ;inadequate .
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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Now will you admit that your claim that all new mass transit projects are rinky-dink and are “dwarfed” by increases in car travel are flat-out wrong?
Matthew Yglesias » Mass Transit is As American as Apple Pie 2010
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Now will you admit that your claim that all new mass transit projects are rinky-dink and are “dwarfed” by increases in car travel are flat-out wrong?
Matthew Yglesias » Mass Transit is As American as Apple Pie 2010
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It starts off with two FBI agents, played by Bill Pullman and Julia Ormand, driving to a rinky-dink town in the middle of nowhere to investigate a mass murder that includes the death of one of the local police officers, played by French Stewart.
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Japan "is not some Third World country with rinky-dink technology," said Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo.
Poll: Fears of nuclear disaster in U.S. rise after Japan quake 2011
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At 60, however, having reached a nadir — he loses his job teaching fifth-grade history at a second-rate school and moves from his substantial place to a “rinky-dink starter apartment” — he gets a do-over.
Cover to Cover 2010
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Imagine a zombie-style outbreak film told within the confines of a rinky-dink radio station, as residents of Pontypool call in with the terrifying news of their neighbors and loved ones turning into rabid, murderous creatures.
Archive 2010-03-01 2010
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At 60, however, having reached a nadir — he loses his job teaching fifth-grade history at a second-rate school and moves from his substantial place to a “rinky-dink starter apartment” — he gets a do-over.
Cover to Cover 2010
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If Google just got contacts sharing right, sooooo many little rinky-dink Exchange wannabees would go out of business.
Google Contacts Open To Non-Gmail Users | Lifehacker Australia 2009
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Imagine a zombie-style outbreak film told within the confines of a rinky-dink radio station, as residents of Pontypool call in with the terrifying news of their neighbors and loved ones turning into rabid, murderous creatures.
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Japan "is not some Third World country with rinky-dink technology," said Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo.
Poll: Fears of nuclear disaster in U.S. rise after Japan quake 2011
wordmonger commented on the word rinky-dink
The following etymology is taken word-for-word directly from the OED. If there are copyright issues, I'll understand.
The first usage is: rinky-dink: rinky-dink, n. and a. slang (chiefly U.S.).
(ˈrɪŋkɪdɪŋk)
Also rinkey-dink, rinkydink, rinky-dinky.
Orig. unknown: cf. ricky-tick n. and a.
A.A n. Something that is worn out or antiquated; a worthless object. spec. a cheap place of entertainment. Also in phr. to give (someone) the rinky-dink and varr., to cheat or swindle (someone).
First used -- 1912 A. H. Lewis Apaches N.Y. xii. 265 They was lyin'‥an' givin' each other th' rinkey-dink in th' old days same as now. 1922 J. A. Dunn Man Trap i. 8 Jimmy abhorred mining corporations with a lot of stockholders and a few of those liable at any moment to hand you the rinky-dink and freeze you out by due process of legal indifference toward small-fry claimants. 1942 Harper's Bazaar July 21/2 Don't give me the rinkydink. 1951 Atlantic Monthly Mar. 80/1, I think of Sweet Mama Stringbean as she was called when she played the Rinky-dinks for $25 a week. 1956 S. Longstreet Real Jazz 147 Rinky-dink is broken-down stuff. 1969 New Yorker 1 Nov. 6/2 Red Garter‥eighteen-nineties rinky-dink, complete with fire engine, but the banjo band is above average. 1977 Amer. Speech 1975 L. 65 Rinky-dink‥n, something that is cheap or worn out. ‘His car is a real rinky-dink.’ --
October 29, 2014