Katie in Everett, Washington, is curious about the expression If ifs and ands were pots and pans, there’d be no need for tinkers. What is a tinker? She heard this phrase on the television series The Gilded Age, in response to a character who is fretting about a hypothetical situation. The idea is that just because you talk about something, that doesn’t mean it will necessarily happen. For centuries, particularly in Ireland and Scotland, tinkers were itinerant metalworkers who traveled from town to town fixing pots and pans and other kitchen utensils. The origin of the word tinker is unclear. It may be an extension of the word tin, or it may have to do with the sound of metal striking metal. If you’re tinkering in your garage, then you’re working with your hands to figure out a problem. A longer version of this saying begins with If wishes were horses, then beggars would ride / If wishes were watches, I’d wear one by my side and the phrase is often rendered as a rhyming version: If ifs and ands were pots and pans, there’d be no need for tinker’s hands. This is part of a complete episode.
After our conversation about towns with extremely short names, many listeners wrote to tell us about Why, Arizona. Others pointed out that there are towns called Ely in Iowa, Minnesota, and Nevada. Other super-short appellations include Rye, New...
Debbie from Crawfordsville, Florida, says that when she and her husband reach an impasse while working on something, they’ll say Let’s grok about it, which they use to mean “Let’s think about it.” Grok was coined by...
Subscribe to the fantastic A Way with Words newsletter!
Martha and Grant send occasional messages with language headlines, event announcements, linguistic tidbits, and episode reminders. It’s a great way to stay in touch with what’s happening with the show.
