Miche  +  487892 Wed, 12 Mar 08 10:31 AM Hello, can anyone tell me what "tinkerings" means? I could not find it in the dictionary... :-( The context is an article titled "The Tinkerings of Robert Noyce: How the Sun Rose in Silicon Valley". I guess it has something to do with the following paragraph: Just why was it that small-town boys from the Middle West dominated the engineering frontiers? Noyce concluded it was because in a small town you became a technician, a tinker, an engineer, and an and inventor, by necessity. Thanks! Miche Joined on Fri, Jan 7 2005 Full Member 258 There's always sunshine after rain Articles, Paragraphs

	nona the brit  +  487932 Wed, 12 Mar 08 11:51 AM tinker   Show phonetics noun 1 UK when you make small changes to something: I'll just have a tinker with the television and see if I can get it to work. 2 especially in the past, a person who travels from place to place, repairing pans or other metal containers So, it could be either or both meanings in the title. nona the brit Joined on Wed, Sep 22 2004 England Veteran Member 11,713 The name says it all.

	Miche  +  488010 Wed, 12 Mar 08 03:24 PM Thank you, Nona. The problem is that the first meaning does not make much sense with the second part of the headline, while the second meaning is obviously not the case here. Probably "tinkerings" is an American word? Miche

	Grammar Geek  +  488016 Wed, 12 Mar 08 03:30 PM You mess about with things to try to make little improvements, just like Nona said. I've never seen the form "Tinkerings" before, I don't thing, but it's clear to me. It refers to the activities of tyring to take existing things and improve them. Grammar Geek Joined on Tue, Jan 10 2006 Veteran Member 19,683 Barbara, who answers in American English. My housekeeping skills attest to the truth of the second law of thermodynamics: Left to themselves, things get more and more random!