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!"