To express to others your own state of hardship. i.e. lack of
money, job, place to live etc. Sometimes a ploy to
garner sympathy. Also used to redirect mooches to another person.
derived from the character
tiny Tim in "a christmas carol"
person 1 - "hey man, wanna grab a
drink?"
person 2 - "oh i can't, i'm
broke, my dog died, my back hurts,,...."
person 1 - "stop
tiny tim-ing me!"