Exploration carries within it implicit beliefs of an unthinking randomness - at worst, a low-level activity akin to 'messing about'.
The economy may indeed be a "fabrication" that is never quite "complete" (p. 301) because family disputes, fraud, secrecy, and other matters are always messing it up.
However, their results also show that high achievers are likely to report more 'informal' practice, such as playing their favourite pieces by ear, 'messing about', or improvising.
But she tended really to be miffed if they were messing with her punctuation or her text in any way, because she was very strict about that.
So far as possible these shortcomings were rectified and, apart from these matters, the general standard of messing is reported to have been satisfactory.
We find, more and more, that fifth class engine room artificers are messing with the leading ratings, and the fourth class with the petty officers.
There is no point in messing about in this fastidious way between two and three points.
Then as regards pay and allowances, and gratuities of officers regimentally messing.
