Spoon

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Spoon :: Spoons :: Spooneybarger,_Tim :: Spooner :: Spooner,_Lysander :: Spoon_River_College

A spoon is a common eating utensil, or item of cutlery, somewhat like a small spade, with a bowl-shaped end on a handle, that occurs in a number of sizes and forms. Its main purposes are for conveying food to the mouth and for stirring, though it has a number of other uses.

Word history

The English word spoon derives from Old English spōn, meaning "chip or splinter of wood or horn carved from a larger piece, shaving," from a Proto-Germanicc root spænuz (cf. Old Norse spann, sponn "chip, splinter," Swedish spån "a wooden spoon," Old Frisian spon, Medieval Dutch spaen, Dutch spaan, Old High German span, German Span "chip, splinter"), , in turn deriving from the Proto-Indo-European root spe-, denoting 'a long piece of wood', probably in the sense of a wedge (cf. Greek sphen "wedge").

The meaning "eating utensil" is recorded c.1300 in English, probably from Old Norse sponn, which meant "spoon" as well as "chip, tile" (development of the "eating utensil" sense is specific to Medieval England and Scandinavia, though Medieval Low German spon also meant "wooden spatula").

History

Spoons have been used by many cultures since the dawn of time, as a vital eating tool. Achaemenid Persian spoon at right illustrates.

From the derivation of the word the earliest northern European spoon would seem to have been a chip or splinter of wood; the Greek KoxXi4piov points to the early and natural use of shells, such as are still used by primitive peoples. Examples are preserved of the various forms of spoons used by the ancient Egyptians of ivory, flint, slate and wood, many of them carved with the symbols of their religion. The spoons of the Greeks and Romans were chiefly made of bronze and silver, and the handle usually takes the form of a spike or pointed stem. There are many examples in the British Museum from which the form of the various types can be ascertained, the chief points of difference being found in the junction of the bowl with the handle.

Medieval spoons for domestic use were commonly made of horn or wood, but brass, pewter and latten spoons appear to have been common in about the 15th century. The full descriptions and entries relating to silver spoons in the inventories of the royal and other households point to their special value and rarity. The earliest English reference appears to be in a will of 1259. In the wardrobe accounts of Edward I for the year 1300 some gold and silver spoons marked with the fleur-de-lis, the Paris mark, are mentioned. One of the most interesting medieval spoons is the coronation spoon used in the anointing of the English sovereign.

The sets of Apostle Spoons, popular as christening presents in Tudor times, the handles of which terminate in heads or busts of the apostles, are a special form to which antiquarian interest attaches. The earlier English spoon-handles terminate in an acorn, plain knob or a diamond; at the end of the 16th century, the baluster and seal ending becomes common, the bowl being fig-shaped.

At the Restoration the handle becomes broad and fiat, the bowl is broad and oval and the termination is cut into the shape known as the pied de biche, or hinds foot.

In the first quarter of the 18th century, the bowl becomes narrow and elliptical, with a tongue or rat's tail down the back, and the handle is turned up at the end.

The modern form, with the tip of the bowl narrower than the base and the rounded end of the handle turned down, came into use about 1760.

Uses

Spoons are nowadays used primarily for eating liquid or semi-liquid foods, such as soup, stew or ice cream, and very small or powdery solid items which cannot be easily lifted with a fork, such as rice, sugar and green peas. Spoons are still more used widely in cooking and serving, however.

Teaspoons are commonly employed by heroin addicts to "cook" the drug in by use of holding a flame underneath. The resulting liquified heroin is then transferred to a syringe and injected.

As of the 1940s, a combination utensil of spoon and fork, the spork, has been in use. Likewise a woon is a small wooden spoon commonly used for eating ice cream, cakes and "malts". The runcible spoon is a spork with a cutting edge like a knife.

The teaspoon and tablespoon are used as standard units of measure for volume in cooking. The teaspoon is often used in a similar way to describe the dosage for over the counter medicines.

For the punitive use, see wooden spoon

Spoon types

Eating utensils

Soup spoon — different types:
- metal soup spoon similar in shape to a teaspoon
- Chinese soup spoon — usually ceramic and of a distinct Chinese soup spoon shape
Tablespoon
Teaspoon
Iced tea spoon
Dessert spoon — between tablespoon and teaspoon in size
Demitasse spoon
Bouillon spoon
Grapefruit spoon — a spoon with serrated edges for cutting into and eating grapefruit halves
Egg spoon — used for hens' eggs; smaller than a teaspoon
Caviar spoon — usually made of mother of pearl, gold, animal horn or wood. Silver cannot be used because it affects the taste.
Absinthe spoon — a flat, slotted spoon used to prepare absinthe for drinking
Plastic spoon cheap and easily mass produced

Cooking and serving utensils

Spoodle — a cross between a spoon and a ladle, often used in European cooking, particularly for soups and stews
Ladle — spoon with a long handle attached vertically; for liquids
Serving spoon
Slotted spoon
Wooden spoon
Runcible spoon — invented by Edward Lear in The Owl and the Pussycat, but later given a real meaning

Other objects

Love spoon — a carved wooden spoon given as a token of betrothal
Silver spoon — a small spoon given to a newborn child to ensure good fortune; used as a metaphor for someone born to riches
When a precious serving spoon is used for an anointment as part of a coronation, it can be given the status of regalia.
Cocaine spoon — a very small spoon used to sniff cocaine
Ear spoon — a small spoon used to remove earwax
Souvenir spoon — may be any of the above types of spoon, but an important additional function is to signify or hold a memory of a place or event, or to display as a 'trophy' of having been there, thus also a classical memento from pilgrimage sites; they are often in more fancy materials and highly ornamentive, depicting sights, coat of arms, associated characters, etcetera.

Miscellaneous

In the culinary world, a "spoon" is a restaurant owned and opened by a notable chef who sets the restaurant's overall tone and menu but who largely leaves the day-to-day management to others while the chef operates one or more principal (haute cuisine) restaurants. Spoons are less expensive but offer many recipes from the high end restaurant.^*

Wooden spoon is a phrase used to describe the "achievement" of a team or individual in finishing last in a contest, a wooden spoon being a common and almost valueless object, in stark contrast to the contest winners who will often receive a trophy made of silver or similar precious metal. The term originates from Cambridge University, wherein professors used to dangle a wooden spoon humiliatingly before students who had failed their tripos.

"Spoon" is an insulting epithet used to describe a person who lacks intelligence, or displays stupidity. It may be linked to the common insulting phrase "Not the sharpest knife in the drawer," which has an identical meaning.

The British satirical magazine Private Eye features a spoof interview column called "Me and My Spoon" in which well-known public figures are quizzed on various aspects of their relationships with, thoughts regarding, experiences of and memories of spoons.

Spooning involves two people cuddling together, possibly while engaging in sexual intercourse, with both people facing the same direction, one pressed up behind the other and with legs bent to some degree so that the bodies fit together like two spoons.

Use as a musical instrument

Spoons (not a single one) can be played as a makeshift percussion instrument, or more specifically, an idiophone related to the castanets. A pair of spoons is held with concave sides facing out, and a finger between their handles to space them apart. When the pair is struck, the spoons sharply hit each other and then spring back to their original position. The spoons are typically struck against the knee and the palm of the hand. The fingers and other body parts may also be used as striking surfaces to produce different sounds and for visual effect.

Spoons as an instrument are associated in the United States with American folk music, minstrelsy, and jug and spasm bands. These musical genres make use of other everyday objects as instruments, such as the washboard and the jug. In addition to common tableware, musical instrument suppliers make spoons that are joined at the handle. Bobby Hebb is a well-known spoons player.

The b-side of Clive Dunn's UK number one hit single, "Grandad", was called "I Play the Spoons".

The U.S. rock band Soundgarden had a hit single in 1993 called "Spoonman", which featured spoons being played as percussion instruments.

On Doctor Who, the Seventh Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) was known for bursts of spoon-playing.

Sources

EtymologyOnLine
C. J. Jackson, The Spoon and its History, in "Archaeologia" (1892), vol. liii
Cripps, Old English Plate.

External links

Using Spoons on BBC H2G2 - a very detailed article about using spoons.
You, Too, Can Play the Spoons by A. Claude Ferguson: possibly the most detailed guide ever written to spoon playing
The Spoon Project @ TheGATE.ca: Gallery of people with spoons on their noses

Food utensils | Idiophones | Regalia | Units of volume

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