tinker tailor
Craftsman and clothier
Tinker tailor comes from a children's counting rhyme used to predict one's future spouse or fortune: "Tinker, tailor, soldier, sailor, rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief." The phrase evokes this sequence, often suggesting a range of ordinary occupations or fates.
It gained literary prominence through John le Carré's spy novel *Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy*.
- soldierArmed forces member
- spyCovert information gatherer
- sailorSeafaring crew member
- beggarmanOne who asks charity
- thiefOne who steals
rich man · nursery rhyme · counting · espionage · Cold War · Smiley · mole · double agent · tradecraft · secret service · British intelligence · cobbler · occupations · mend · repair · fiddle · putter · tweak
tinker tailorcaptain of industry
Powerful business leader
aristocrat · landed gentry · lord and lady · king and queen · merchant prince
tinker tailorsoftware engineer
One who builds programs
data scientist · tech entrepreneur · app developer · social media manager · content creator
tinker tailorphilosopher king
Wisdom-led ruler ideal
scholar · intellectual · man of letters · academic · theorist
tinker, tailor, tinkers, tinkered, tinkering, tinkerer, tinkerers, tailors, tailored