spoony

[Ken Greenwald]

<2017 “‘But every author can taste the poison another has slipped into the punch,’ and the critic ended by calling Arthur ‘a magniloquent spoony.”—New York Times Book Review>

Here’s the word that ‘magniloquent' modified in my previous posting and I would classify it as archaic.

Merriam-Webster.com

spoony: noun and adjective

1) A person who is silly, foolish; especially: unduly sentimental.

2) A person who is sentimentally in love.

Etymology

In 19th-century British slang, spoon meant "simpleton” (a meaning that may have been influenced by the "shallowness" of some spoons). That use of "spoon" brought about the adjective "spoony" to describe a silly or foolish person. In time, the foolish manner implied by "spoony" began to take on sentimental and amorous overtones, and it soon became the perfect word for those foolishly head over heels in love. Another "spoon" is a verb referring to love-making or necking. That use of "spoon" may stem from a Welsh custom in which an engaged man presented his fiancé with an elaborately carved wooden spoon.

First known use: circa 1795
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The following quotes are from Oxford English Dictionary and archived sources:

<1795 “Spoony, a foolish pretending fellow.”—A New Dictionary of all the Cant and Languages, both Ancient and Modern by H. T. Potter>

<1847 “What the deuce can she find in that spoony of a Pitt Crawley?”—Vanity Fair (1848) by Thackeray, xxxiv, page 301>

<1878 “Pen calls him a spoony, and ridicules him unmercifully.”— Chaperon's Cares by M. C. Jackson, I. v. page 57>

<1989 “She voices wariness of a patient getting ‘spoony’ around her . . .”—Chicago Sun-Times (Illinois), 24 September>

<1999 “He sends his wife a single cello-phaned red rose every Friday and she calls him ‘my spoony old thing.’”—Daily Mail (London), 27 August>

<2013 “‘And in that consecrated spot, she and I sat and talked until late in the evening,’ he writes, as if he were some spoony undergraduate who had been desperately hoping to get off with her.”—New Statesman (1996), 13 December>

<2017 “I posit that, in effect, gamers too often become spoony, foolishly enamored with their video game machines, sentimentally—and unduly—attached to them and singing their praises far and wide for anyone to hear.”—Super Power, Spoony Bards, and Silverware: The Super Nintendo Entertainment System by D. Arsenault, page 9>

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Ken Greenwald — April 25, 2018

[trolley]

"Another "spoon" is a verb referring to love-making or necking. That use of "spoon" may stem from a Welsh custom in which an engaged man presented his fiancé with an elaborately carved wooden spoon."


I am surprised that they went all the way to Wales to come up with that "may stem from". It's easier to imagine that it comes from the way two spoons fit together when they are nestled.

[Erik_Kowal]

I am surprised that they went all the way to Wales to come up with that "may stem from". It's easier to imagine that it comes from the way two spoons fit together when they are nestled.

That suggests a new connotation for the term 'spoon-fed'.

[Bobinwales]

I think that spooning in the cuddling sense is far more likely to come from the way that two spoons fit together rather than the Welsh lovespoon. It is true that they were given as love tokens, and in fact I have carved several in my time. I now make them in ceramic, the one I made Margaret is especially complex and took me a long time, because she is worth it!

[Erik_Kowal]

Any chance of you posting a picture of it on your blog and linking to it here, Bob?

[Bobinwales]

For some reason I can't upload the picture, but this link should take you to it.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/155026089 ... 906168172/

[trolley]

Nice work, Bob. Is there some significance to the attached "ball and chain"...other than the obvious?

[Bobinwales]

There is indeed. The ball is actually three balls one inside the other. Margaret already had three children when we met and the chain has five links, she is one of five children.

[Erik_Kowal]

Having done a fair bit of sculpture in clay myself, Bob, I can appreciate just how much work went into executing that spoon so nicely, as well as the thought that went into its design. Well done!

[Bobinwales]

Thank you. I am flattered.

[tony h]

I think that spooning in the cuddling sense is far more likely to come from the way that two spoons fit together rather than ...

I mused over the choice of spoon in this phrase whilst returning items to the cutlery drawer.
Ours starts with the small spoon: the tease-spoon (OK, I know),
and then moves onto the spooning proper.
Then equally cuddled we would get the forks.
After the forking we move to the sharp criticism of the knife as in "you have been sleeping in the knife drawer".
Then it all ends with the dessert-spoon.

[Erik_Kowal]

Which is sometimes also the just deserts spoon...

Thanks for painting that amusing little scene for us, Tony.

[Wizard of Oz]

Helo Bob. Rydych yn wir Caru Margaret. I bought a Love Spoon for you know who when I was in Wales. Yes it was ready made but I chose THAT one from all the different ones available.

[Bobinwales]

And quite right too WoZ.
Nice to have you back.