Christine357 on "twentytwelve_entry_meta() Change"

Hey guys I am trying to change the following function just to reword how it displays the entry_meta for posts:

function twentytwelve_entry_meta() {
	// Translators: used between list items, there is a space after the comma.
	$categories_list = get_the_category_list( __( ', ', 'twentytwelve' ) );

	// Translators: used between list items, there is a space after the comma.
	$tag_list = get_the_tag_list( '', __( ', ', 'twentytwelve' ) );

	$date = sprintf( '<a href="%1$s" title="%2$s" rel="bookmark"><time class="entry-date" datetime="%3$s">%4$s</time></a>',
		esc_url( get_permalink() ),
		esc_attr( get_the_time() ),
		esc_attr( get_the_date( 'c' ) ),
		esc_html( get_the_date() )
	);

	$author = sprintf( '<span class="author vcard"><a class="url fn n" href="%1$s" title="%2$s" rel="author">%3$s</a></span>',
		esc_url( get_author_posts_url( get_the_author_meta( 'ID' ) ) ),
		esc_attr( sprintf( __( 'View all posts by %s', 'twentytwelve' ), get_the_author() ) ),
		get_the_author()
	);

	// Translators: 1 is category, 2 is tag, 3 is the date and 4 is the author's name.
	if ( $tag_list ) {
		$utility_text = __( 'This entry was posted in %1$s and tagged %2$s on %3$s<span class="by-author"> by %4$s</span>.', 'twentytwelve' );
	} elseif ( $categories_list ) {
		//$utility_text = __( 'This entry was posted in %1$s on %3$s<span class="by-author"> by %4$s</span>.', 'twentytwelve' );
		$utility_text = __( '%3$s | by %4$s || in %1s' );
	} else {
		$utility_text = __( 'This entry was posted on %3$s<span class="by-author"> by %4$s</span>.', 'twentytwelve' );
	}

	printf(
		$utility_text,
		$categories_list,
		$tag_list,
		$date,
		$author
	);
}
endif;

I've learned in the past it is not as simple as paste the function into your child theme php file but the use of filters is required. I read the documentary after looking at a couple other functions I had help putting in before but I still don't really understand what I need to do to make my change to the above function and so am hoping someone could help me out. :) Eventually I'll get it.