What is Tinkers?
1.
Tinkers is a term for a group of Irish Travellers who worked with tin and mended pots and pans from door to door in rural Ireland before urbanisation in the 1960's. This is a perjoritive term these days and is used to insult Irish Travellers, as gyppo is to insult Romani people (different ethnic nomads in Britain & Ireland).
Not all Irish Travellers were tinkers (from tinsmithing or tinsmith) as there were horse dealers, market traders etc.
Irish Travellers have their own distinct culture, traditions, way of life and language and are indigenious to Ireland and are said to be here in Ireland before the Celts arrived in Ireland 500 yrs BC.
"irish travellers are all tinkers"
"No, its a term, often negative"
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2.
Irish gypsies. often referred to as dirty by romani gypsies - the original gypsy ppl not just some person who has decided to live in a caravan. A romani gypsy will have a very distinctive look, usually olive sking long dark hair and wears excessive amounts of gold jewellery.
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3.
Widely known as Irish gypsies residing in Ireland and also in the UK. My Irish nan used to tell my mum that if she was naughty one evening that she would "leave her outside for the tinkers", as it was said that they stole children.
Another meaning of tinkers is esctasy pills.
"got any tinkers?" or "tinkers, tinkers, anyone wanna buy any tinkers?" as some drug dealers in nightclubs in the South East of England would say.
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4.
English word for ecstacy pills
Can I buy 50 tinkers off you?
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5.
originating in latin americain truckstops. then moving north to the midwest areas. Tinkers are the small decorative shot glasses that 80-90 year old women collect as they make one last trip across the nation before thay die. These people are called "Tinkerers or Tinkalingers" As of July 23 the Record for most tinkers was 389 from Janie Briggs, a resident of Michletown MI.
"Sandy Sue just got a new dolphin tinker from "Dirty Dicks " in Dothan, and damn, that mo- fo is fine as can be!
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