A runcible spoon is a made-up spoon from Edward Lear’s poem “The Owl and The Pussycat.” It is often referred to as a fork, but Lear’s illustration shows a long-handled spoon with a large curved bowl. The word “runcible” may come from the French word “rouncival,” meaning exceptionally large. Despite its unclear meaning, the term has been used by other authors and is the name of various businesses.
A runcible spoon is an imaginary spoon. The word “runcible” is a nonsense term first used by the poet Edward Lear in the 19th century. Lear first used the term in his poem “The Owl and The Pussycat,” where the two besotted animals dine on ground beef and quince slices, eating them with a “runcible spoon.” Lear also used the term runcible again as a modifier for hat, goose and wall.
To help decide what a runcible spoon really is, Lear offers an illustration of the Dolumphious Duck, who catches frogs with one. Though the spoon is often referred to as a fork in modern parlance, Lear’s illustration gives us a different look at what that might be. It appears to be a long handled spoon with a large curved bowl, somewhat resembling a punch spoon or ladle. Unlike the spork, Lear’s design does not include teeth.
There are several explanations of possible inspirations for the word runcible. The most probable seems to be that it derives from the word rouncival or rounceval, mainly of French origin. Rouncival is defined as exceptionally large, and this adjective would explain Lear’s drawing.
A Latin word runcare means to weed out. This word could explain the process of fishing for the Dolumphious Duck with a runcible spoon. The duck is really getting the frogs out of the water. Yet it doesn’t make sense when a person or a hat is considered runcible.
Despite the hazy meaning of the words runcible spoon, they roll off the tongue with glee and explain their many uses by other authors. Isaac Asimov refers to it in his novel The Currents of Space. Lemony Snicket, in his latest book Series of Unfortunate Events: The End, mentions an island cult where members use this spoon only as a utensil.
Runcible Spoon is also the name of a jazz band, a shop in Rhode Island that sells kitchen items, a restaurant in Indiana and a bakery in New York. Despite an unclear picture of what the adjective is, or even means, it continues to capture the public’s imagination.
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