Today's phrase is: tinker's damn or tinker's dam or tinker's darn
I'm not sure how it came up in a conversation hubby and I had, but when it did it got me wondering, what the heck is a tinker's damn? And what is a tinker. Hubby speculated that a tinker was someone who worked in metal.
According to my research he's right. The word goes back to the 1200s and is of uncertain origin. A tinker was someone who wandered around meaning pots, pans, and other household items made of metal. In Scotland tinker or tinkler came to mean someone who was a tramp or vagrant mostly because those who were "vagrants" worked at tinkers mending pots. These tinkers were know for having potty (pun intended) mouths.
The Oxford English Dictionary says, "The low repute in which these... itinerant sort were held in former times is shown by the expressions to swear like a tinker, a tinker's curse or damn, as drunk or quarrelsome as a tinker, etc."By the 18th century the phrase to "not give a curse/damn" or "not care a curse/damn" or "not worth a curse/damn" was already common so it wasn't a great stretch to add a derogatory "tinker" to the phrase.
The OED says first known use of the phrase came in 1824 from John Mactaggart's The Scottish Gallvidian Encyclopedia: "A tinkler's curse she did na care."
Leave it to the Scots.
Nowadays to tinker means puttering around, doing small or odd jobs or hobbies is casual way. Hubby likes to tinker his garage. It no longer carries a derogatory aura.
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To celebrate eight (8!) years of blogging, I'm offering up a bloghop I know every writer dreams of.
The Listing Hop!
This fest will be so easy and fun it should probably be a crime.
The rules are simple. All you have to do is sign up in the linky thingy below, grab the banner, and make a list. I suggest you keep your list to between 5 and 25 items long. We'll visit each other on October 26th.
You can list whatever you feel like (except for adult type content). That's it! If you really NEED help (PULL-EASE!) on what to list, go HERE for a list of ideas.
Look at how many people have signed up!
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Being Thankful
Today I'm thankful for MOUNTAINS.
Everest
Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, China
The Matterhorn
The Titons
Stop by Wednesday, the 21st, as I'll be participating in the October bloghop from Write, Edit, Publish! It's all about Youthful Frights and Adult Fears. Inotherwords, it's about things that go bump in the night.
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What are you grateful for today? Do you like mountains? Do you even give a tinker's damn? :) Have you signed up for my blog hop? Writing up a scary childhood memory for Write, Edit, Publish?
