Tinker

A tinker or tinkerer was originally an itinerant tinsmith, who mended household utensils.

Description

The word is attested from the 13th century as 'tyckner' or 'tinkler' a term used in medieval Scotland and England for a metal worker. Some travelling groups and Romani people adopted this lifestyle and the name was particularly associated with indigenous Scottish Highland Travellers and Irish Travellers. However, this usage is disputed and considered offensive by some. Tinkering is therefore the process of adapting, meddling or adjusting something in the course of making repairs or improvements, a process also known as bricolage.

The term "little tinker" is now widely used in England as a term of endearment for a cheeky young child. Some modern day nomads with a Scottish, Irish or English influence call themselves "techno-tinkers" or "technogypsies" and are found to possess a revival of sorts of the romantic view of the tinker's lifestyle. The family name "Tinker" is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and does not have a Scottish, Irish or Romany connection.

Metalsmith

A metalsmith or simply smith is a craftsman fashioning useful items (for example, tools, kitchenware, tableware, jewellery and weapons) out of various metals. Smithing is one of the oldest metalworking occupations. Shaping metal with a hammer (forging) is the archetypical component of smithing. Often the hammering is done while the metal is hot, having been heated in a forge. Smithing can also involve the other aspects of metalworking, such as refining metals from their ores (traditionally done by smelting), casting it into shapes (founding), and filing to shape and size.

The prevalence of metalworking in the culture of recent centuries has led Smith and its equivalents in various languages (German Schmidt, French Lefèvre, Spanish Herrero, etc.) to be a common occupational surname. As a suffix, -smith connotes a meaning of a specialized craftsman—for example, wordsmith and tunesmith are nouns synonymous with writer or songwriter, respectively.

History

In pre-industrialized times, smiths held high or special social standing since they supplied the metal tools needed for farming (especially the plough) and warfare. This was especially true in some West African cultures.

Tinker (disambiguation)

A tinker is an itinerant tinsmith. It may also refer to:

In print

Places

People