The spork, a combination of a spoon and fork, is an old utensil with a rounded spoon-shaped bowl and small teeth for spearing food. It was not patented until the 19th century, and some call it a runcible spoon. Sporks are used in fast food restaurants, schools, and prisons, and are popular for backpacking. They are also used as a child’s first utensil. The term “dirtied” refers to playfully prodding someone with a spork.
The term spork is a marriage of the two words, spoon and fork. The spork is actually one of our oldest utensils still in use, and most people believe that spork was made as early as the Middle Ages. The spork, which features a rounded spoon-shaped bowl, with small teeth at the end for spear food, wasn’t patented until the 19th century, although sporks existed long before this time. Some sporks also have a sharp edge on the headstock and may be referred to as splayds.
Many people also use the term runcible spoon, first used in Edward Lear’s poem, “The Owl and Puss with Reeds,” to describe the spork. This is actually inaccurate. Lear’s drawing of the runcible spoon doesn’t show a spoon with teeth, and he essentially made up the word “runcible.” However, some well-known dictionaries now describe a runcible spoon as an alternate word for spork.
The spork has several popular uses. Plastic storks are often handed out as silverware in fast food restaurants. Kentucky Fried Chicken is believed to be the first fast food restaurant to do this, but now many popular fast food restaurants offer plastic sporks. School cafeterias often offer language to children ordering hot lunches and are also common in prisons as they cannot easily be converted into weapons.
A spork can be a child’s first utensil or the first type of fork. Since the spork’s teeth are quite blunt, babies won’t hurt their mouths when they’re still learning to coordinate to self-feed. This can make eating a little easier and certainly more enjoyable.
Another popular use of the spork is silverware for backpacking. These can be made of light metals, such as titanium. When carrying weight is a concern on long backpacking trips, it makes more sense to carry a fork than a fork and spoon. Some backpackers prefer splayd for this purpose, since they can dig, throw or slash with splayd.
You can also hear references to someone being “dirtied” on the internet. This refers to striking someone harmlessly or prodding them with a spear. This metaphorical use occurs frequently in chat rooms and is a statement intended to amuse and not threaten other chat guests.
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