> What's a "frob"? Is it anything like the MGA timing cover that hangs on my
>cubicle wall?
Tweak, twiddle, and frob are three stages along a continuum
of adjusting something. In terms of British cars, a tweak
might be getting the timing just right by turning the distributor
in its mounting so that the #1 cylinder was at 2:00 when the
#7 and #8 valves were just rocking. A twiddle might be playing
with the timing dynamically while using a timing light to check
that the mark on the crank pulley is hitting the mark on the
timing cover. A frob would be turning the ineffectual little
vernier knob on the back of the distributor to "allow for
differences in the quality of petrol."
The classical definition says that if an engineer is trying to
tune a scope so that it's grossly aligned, he's tweaking it; if
he's going for a fine adjustment, he's twiddling it; but if
he's just turning a knob because turning knobs is fun, he's
frobbing it.
There are LOTS of frobs on British cars.
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