someone who tinkers

Not quite the same, but better for a US audience who might not recognise tinkers.

Hard to explain, I guess, but I'll try:

The verb "to invent" most of the time refers to that special eureka moment when Edison's light bulb finally gave light for more than a few seconds. The verb "tüfteln" refers to the long, frustrating, tedious and often enough unsuccessful effort that usually precedes the eureka moment. A "Tüftler" is a person who is able make this effort, and "tüfteln" refers to the way such a person works which includes fiddling around as well as working meticulously.

fiddling around -> fiddling about. Sorry.

@AndreasS: Never fear, fiddling around AE = fiddling about BE. (-:

AndreasS: while that may true of the verb to "invent", my friends here who refer to themselves as Tüftler are similar to my American friend who calls himself an inventor. The process of invention is long, difficult and involved as you described tüftlen above, so it works fine i.m.h.o., though tinkerer is closer to the orig. meaning.

@Sarah: Ja, gut, das ist eine Notlösung, aber der Bedeutungsunterschied zwischen "Erfinder" und "Tüftler" wird durch die Übersetzung Tüftler -> inventor nicht getroffen. Ich bleibe dabei: erfinden / Erfinder bezieht sich auf das Ergebnis, tüfteln / Tüftler bezieht sich auf die Tätigkeit. Der Bedeutungsunterschied ist etwa derselbe wie zwischen "finden" (!) und "suchen".

An die Natives: Ist es möglich, zu schreiben: "A few / A group of tinkerers have thought about ways how ..."?

@AndreasS

"An die Natives: Ist es möglich, zu schreiben: "A few / A group of tinkerers have thought about ways how ..."?"

I would strongly advise against it. Perhaps you could call them "amateur inventors". IMO that bridges the gap between "Tüftler" and "Erfinder".

"Tinkerers" is certainly pretty horrid.

The phrase "backyard Edisons" also popped into my head. "Backyard boffins" might do it too (in the UK at least).

"Hobbyists" is a good word, but you need to be able to say in what field "model-train hobbyists" "electronics hobbyists". It tends to suggest a devotee of a single field of pointless activity (model railways, trainspotting, etc.) rather than the more general mechanical abilities of a Tüftler.

Hope I'm not too late.

An die Natives: Ist es möglich, zu schreiben: "A few / A group of tinkerers have thought about ways how ..."?


@ Andreas
The meaning you described for "Tüftler" is 100% covered by the word "Inventor" and is most definitely not a compromise. Tinkering means you're just playing around. My brother, for example, tinkers with computers, but no new inventions are likely to come out of it. A tinkerer is not someone who is taken seriously for their skill at inventing. Thomas Edison, for example, is widely referred to an inventor, and everyone knows that he was more of a scientist or a technician, and not just some guy with a couple of "eureka" moments. Below is the definition from the Merraiam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary.

intransitive senses : to work in the manner of a tinker; especially : to repair, adjust, or work with something in an unskilled or experimental manner : FIDDLE
transitive senses : to repair, adjust, or experiment with
–tin£ker£er -k*r-*r noun

The key here is "in an unskilled or experimental manner", which means that tinkers rarely have the necessary knowledge to invent something.


"Tüfteln" would likely be better translated as "to work on an invention".
"Tinker" is more akin to "herumbasteln"