Tinker

Last updated

A photograph of a tinker by Ignacy Krieger, nineteenth century Tinker by Krieger.jpg
A photograph of a tinker by Ignacy Krieger, nineteenth century

Tinker or tinkerer is an archaic term for an itinerant tinsmith who mends household utensils.

Contents

Description

Tinker for metal-worker is attested from the thirteenth century as tyckner or tinkler. [1] Some travelling groups and Romani people specialised in the trade, and the name was particularly associated with indigenous Irish Travellers and Scottish Highland Travellers – the name of whose language Beurla Reagaird means "metalworkers". [2] However, this use is considered offensive. [3]

The term "tinker", in British English, may refer to a mischievous child. [3] Some modern-day nomads with an English, an Irish or a Scottish influence call themselves "techno-tinkers" or "technogypsies" in a revival of sorts of the romantic view of the tinker's lifestyle. [4]

"Tinker's dam" or "damn" and "tinker's curse"

Both phrases tinker's damn and tinker's curse can be applied to something considered insignificant. An example: "I don't give a tinker's curse what the doctor thinks", sometimes shortened to, "I don't give a tinker's about the doctor." [5]

A tinker's dam is also reportedly a temporary patch to retain solder when repairing a hole in a metal vessel, such as a pot or a pan. It was used by tinkers and was usually made of mud or clay, or sometimes other materials at hand, such as wet paper or dough. The material was built up around the outside of the hole, so as to plug it. Molten solder was then poured on the inside of the hole. The solder cooled and solidified against the dam and bonded with the metal wall. The dam was then brushed away. The remaining solder was then rasped and smoothed down by the tinker. [6]

In the Practical Dictionary of Mechanics of 1877, Edward Knight gives this definition: "Tinker's-dam: a wall of dough raised around a place which a plumber desires to flood with a coat of solder. The material can be but once used; being consequently thrown away as worthless". [5]

It is thought that the use of "tinker's dam" as something worthless, may have evolved into the phrase "tinker's curse". Although tinker's curse is attested in 1824, which was thought to be earlier than tinker's dam, [5] "tinkers damn" is attested in 1823. [7] An alternative derivation is that a tinker's curse or cuss was considered of little significance, possibly because tinkers (who worked with their hands near hot metal) were reputed to swear (curse) habitually. [5]

When working with copper, tin, gold, or other low-melting-point metals, the tinker would construct a charcoal furnace out of bricks and mud. At the bottom, he would leave a hole for the molten metal to pour out into a trough that led to a casting or a depression for an ingot. The hole was covered with a temporary 'dam' which would be broken when the liquid metal had puddled at the bottom of the furnace. The function of the blockage coined the word 'tinker's dam' as being something that only lasted temporarily, as it was to be destroyed or made useless in the very near future.

See also

Related Research Articles

Shit is an English-language profanity. As a noun, it refers to fecal matter, and as a verb it means to defecate; in the plural, it means diarrhea. Shite is a common variant in British and Irish English. As a slang term, shit has many meanings, including: nonsense, foolishness, something of little value or quality, trivial and usually boastful or inaccurate talk or a contemptible person. It could also be used to refer to any other noun in general or as an expression of annoyance, surprise or anger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irish Travellers</span> Traditionally nomadic people of ethnic Irish origin

Irish Travellers, also known as Pavees or Mincéirs, are a traditionally peripatetic indigenous ethno-cultural group originating in Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nomad</span> Person without fixed habitat

A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads, tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the population of nomadic pastoral tribes slowly decreased, reaching an estimated 30–40 million nomads in the world as of 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cast iron</span> Iron-carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2% and silicon content between 1 to 3%

Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2% and silicon content around 1-3%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when manufactured; white cast iron has carbide impurities which allow cracks to pass straight through, grey cast iron has graphite flakes which deflect a passing crack and initiate countless new cracks as the material breaks, and ductile cast iron has spherical graphite "nodules" which stop the crack from further progressing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boot (torture)</span> Torture and interrogation instruments

The term boot refers to a family of instruments of torture and interrogation variously designed to cause crushing injuries to the foot and/or leg. The boot has taken many forms in various places and times. Common varieties include the Spanish boot and the Malay boot. One type was made of four pieces of narrow wooden board nailed together. The boards were measured to fit the victim's leg. Once the leg was enclosed, wedges would be hammered between the boards, creating pressure. The pressure would be increased until the victim confessed or lost consciousness.

Pikey is a slang term, which is pejorative and considered by many to be a slur. It is used mainly in the United Kingdom and in Ireland to refer to people who are of the Traveller community, a set of ethno-cultural groups found primarily in Great Britain and Ireland. It is also used against Romanichal Travellers, Welsh Kale, Scottish Lowland Travellers, Scottish Highland Travellers, and Funfair Travellers.

Gobannus was a Gallo-Roman smithing god.

Angloromani or Anglo-Romani is a mixed language of Indo-European origin involving the presence of Romani vocabulary and syntax in the English used by descendants of Romanichal Travellers in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United States, and South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tinsmith</span> Person who makes and repairs things made of tin or other light metals

A tinsmith is a person who makes and repairs things made of tin or other light metals. The profession may sometimes also be known as a tinner, tinker, tinman, or tinplate worker; whitesmith may also refer to this profession, though the same word may also refer to an unrelated specialty of iron-smithing. By extension it can also refer to the person who deals in tinware, or tin plate. Tinsmith was a common occupation in pre-industrial times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anti-Romani sentiment</span> Racism against Romani people

Anti-Romani sentiment is a form of bigotry which consists of hostility, prejudice, discrimination, racism and xenophobia which is specifically directed at Romani people. Non-Romani itinerant groups in Europe such as the Yenish, Irish and Highland Travellers are frequently given the name "gypsy" and as a result, they are frequently confused with the Romani people. As a result, sentiments which were originally directed at the Romani people are also directed at other traveler groups and they are frequently referred to as "antigypsy" sentiments.

Tinker is an archaic term for an itinerant tinsmith who mends household utensils.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Romani diaspora</span> Dispersion of the Roma people

The Romani people have several distinct populations, the largest being the Roma and the Calé, who reached Anatolia and the Balkans in the early 12th century, from a migration out of the Indian subcontinent beginning about 1st century – 2nd century AD. They settled in the areas of present-day Turkey, Greece, Serbia, Romania, Croatia, Moldova, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Hungary, Albania, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czech Republic, Slovenia and Slovakia, by order of volume, and Spain. From the Balkans, they migrated throughout Europe and, in the nineteenth and later centuries, to the Americas. The Roma population in the United States is estimated at more than one million.

British slang is English-language slang originating from and used in the United Kingdom and also used to a limited extent in Anglophone countries such as Ireland, South Africa, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, especially by British expatriates. It is also used in the United States to a limited extent. Slang is informal language sometimes peculiar to a particular social class or group and its use in Britain dates back to before the 15th century. The language of slang, in common with the English language, is changing all the time; new words and phrases are being added and some are used so frequently by so many, they almost become mainstream.

Scottish Travellers, or the people in Scotland loosely termed Romani persons or travellers, consist of a number of diverse, unrelated communities that speak a variety of different languages and dialects that pertain to distinct customs, histories, and traditions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Reilly (singer)</span> Musical artist

John "Jacko" Reilly, (1926–1969) was a traditional Irish singer. He was a settled Irish Traveller who lived in Boyle, County Roscommon, but hailed originally from Carrick-on-Shannon, County Leitrim. He was a profound influence on many popular folk and traditional singers, based largely on recordings of his singing by the Irish song collector Tom Munnelly, which were not released until after his death in 1969.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Names of the Romani people</span> Etymology of terms for interrelated nomadic European ethnic minority

The Romani people are also known by a variety of other names; in English as gypsies or gipsies, and Roma; in Greek as γύφτοι (gíftoi) or τσιγγάνοι (tsiggánoi), in Central and Eastern Europe as Tsingani ; in France as gitans besides the dated terms bohémiens and manouches; in Italy as rom and sinti besides the dated terms zingari, sigani, and gitani; in Spain as gitanos; and in Portugal as ciganos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Halting site</span> Types of populated places used by Irish Travellers

A halting site is purpose-built residential accommodation for Travellers provided by a local municipal authority. The halting site has an individual bay for each family unit with a full range of services provided in a small structure on each bay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Itinerant groups in Europe</span> Traditionally nomadic groups in Europe

There are a number of traditionally itinerant or travelling groups in Europe who are known as "Travellers" or "Gypsies". The origins of the indigenous itinerant groups are unclear. They have been assumed to have taken up the travelling lifestyle out of necessity at some point during the Early Modern period but to not be ethnically distinct from their source population. However, recent DNA testing has shown that the Irish Travellers are of Irish origin but are genetically distinct from their settled counterparts due to social isolation, and more groups are being studied.

References

  1. "Full text of 'Scottish Gypsies under the Stewarts'". archive.org. 1894.
  2. Kirk, J. & Ó Baoill, D. Travellers and their Language (2002) Queen's University Belfast ISBN   0-85389-832-4 [ page needed ]
  3. 1 2 "Tinker". Collins English Dictionary (Complete & Unabridged eleventh ed.). Retrieved 24 October 2012.
  4. McGowan, Leaf; Baurley, Thomas (2005). Techno-Gypsies, Techno-Nomads, and Techno-Tinkers. Seattle, Washington: Tree Leaves Publishing.[ page needed ][ ISBN missing ]
  5. 1 2 3 4 Martin, Gary. "Tinker's Dam". The Phrase Finder.
  6. Bonner, John; Curtis, George William (1905). "Tinkers". Harper's Weekly. Vol. 49. p. 1424. Retrieved 2 April 2012.
  7. The Rambler's Magazine: Or, Fashionable Emporium of Polite Literature ... Benbow. 1 May 1823. p. 216.