Tinker may once have meant "gypsy", but now the epithet for gypsy in Northamptonshire and probably the rest of the country, said with as much bile as possible, is f**cking gippos!

They are also known as "travellers" by a lot of people. It's probably a better description, as most of them don't seem to have any Romany heritage.

As far as I can tell, "tinker" has reverted to someone itinerant who fixes things.

"Tinkering" has alway meant "trying to do something without noticeable success" to me.