# Am I not acknowledging a utensil? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 1, 2007, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-not-acknowledging-a-utensil/410104 "2007-07-01T05:34:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DevNull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c89c15/32.png) [@DevNull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DevNull)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2007, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-not-acknowledging-a-utensil/410104/1 "2007-07-01T05:34:21Z")
Whilst washing the dishes tonight, I pondered the: Knife Spoon Fork And gave thought to the: Spork And also acknowledged the: Chopsticks Straw Am I missing another well-known and oft-used utensil than mankind uses to get food into their mouths? (this question is way too doofy to put in General Questions) ---
**Author:** ![Ms.Pumpkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a87d85/32.png) [@Ms.Pumpkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms.Pumpkin)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2007, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-not-acknowledging-a-utensil/410104/2 "2007-07-01T05:42:43Z")
I think you’ve got things pretty well covered… why, is there an empty slot in your silverware tray? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Auntbeast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Auntbeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Auntbeast)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2007, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-not-acknowledging-a-utensil/410104/3 "2007-07-01T05:53:27Z")
Well, in our house, we also have steak knives and baby spoons. But chopsticks work great as coffee stirrers, discovering this, I have more spoons available for more spoony type things. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2007, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-not-acknowledging-a-utensil/410104/4 "2007-07-01T06:14:32Z")
Those corn on the cob suckers, whatever they’re called. And there’s also the toothpick (for bite sized morsels) and those long pronged things that you use with fondue. ---
**Author:** ![Tikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5daacb/32.png) [@Tikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tikki)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2007, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-not-acknowledging-a-utensil/410104/5 "2007-07-01T06:22:58Z")
And skewers for when you’re feeling in the mood for shish kabobs. And grapefruit spoons with the little saw teeth on the edges. Hmm, if sporks the bastard child of a spoon and fork, maybe we should call grapefruit spoons spifes since they’re sort of a combination of a spoon and a knife. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2007, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-not-acknowledging-a-utensil/410104/6 "2007-07-01T06:40:21Z")
finger? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2007, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-not-acknowledging-a-utensil/410104/7 "2007-07-01T07:37:44Z")
Does [injera](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Injera) count? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Scribble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scribble/32/3317_2.png) [@Scribble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scribble)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2007, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-not-acknowledging-a-utensil/410104/8 "2007-07-01T13:13:41Z")
Oh, heavens. There are tons of other utensils that the OP didn’t mention. How about ice tongs, sugar cube tongs, butter knives, cake servers, seafood forks, nut crackers, and nutmeat picks? Those implements aren’t common in my life, but for some people, they probably are. I take it we’re not even going into the incredible variety of implements used during the Victorian era in England and during the British Raj. They had such things as bread forks, mango forks and spoons, etiquette spoons (which look like a pretty good idea for modern use, too. I wonder why they went out of style?), moustache spoons, and marrow scoops. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2007, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-not-acknowledging-a-utensil/410104/9 "2007-07-01T13:46:58Z")
[QUOTE=Scribble] and marrow scoops. [/QUOTE] Do people still eat marrowbone? ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2007, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-not-acknowledging-a-utensil/410104/10 "2007-07-01T15:44:39Z")
[Sporfe.](http://www.flickr.com/photos/mylsd/177160117/) ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2007, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-not-acknowledging-a-utensil/410104/11 "2007-07-01T16:12:08Z")
Don’t forget ladles. **Autolycus** will be along shortly to tell you all about the many uses of ladles. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2007, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-not-acknowledging-a-utensil/410104/12 "2007-07-01T16:17:11Z")
[QUOTE=DevNull] … Am I missing another well-known and oft-used utensil than mankind uses to get food into their mouths? … [/QUOTE] You have forgotten the runcible spoon. How could you? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Capt\_B.Phart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc29f/32.png) [@Capt\_B.Phart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt_B.Phart)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2007, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-not-acknowledging-a-utensil/410104/13 "2007-07-01T16:18:54Z")
[Trebuchet?](http://www.io.com/~beckerdo/other/ToothpickTreb/ToothpickTreb.html) ---
**Author:** ![leafrog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cab0a1/32.png) [@leafrog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leafrog)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2007, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-not-acknowledging-a-utensil/410104/14 "2007-07-01T16:20:30Z")
When come back, bring pie server. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2007, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-not-acknowledging-a-utensil/410104/15 "2007-07-01T16:25:12Z")
It now occurs to me that I and a friend once decided to make kebabs, but, the cutlery drawer not being as well stocked as it might have been, used tent pegs to keep the stuff together. So, would tent pegs count? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-not-acknowledging-a-utensil/410104/16 "2007-07-02T00:43:06Z")
Someone has come up with a fork with a sharpened edge that you can use for cutting food, as people already do with the edge of a fork. It’s not the same as the **sporfe** above, and I think it’s made of metal. I’d be afraid to use the damned thing – I’d probably split the corners of my mouth. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-not-acknowledging-a-utensil/410104/17 "2007-07-02T00:49:36Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] Someone has come up with a fork with a sharpened edge that you can use for cutting food, as people already do with the edge of a fork. It’s not the same as the **sporfe** above, and I think it’s made of metal. [/QUOTE] Yeah, I’ve heard them talk about them on [_The Daily Giz Wiz_](http://www.twit.tv/DGW), but I can’t remember the name of them, either. ---
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-not-acknowledging-a-utensil/410104/18 "2007-07-02T01:09:13Z")
[QUOTE=Celyn] It now occurs to me that I and a friend once decided to make kebabs, but, the cutlery drawer not being as well stocked as it might have been, used tent pegs to keep the stuff together. So, would tent pegs count? 😃 [/QUOTE] In a similar situation, but with no tent pents handy, I used spaghetti noodles. Since it didn’t actually work, I don’t know if it counts, but they made a pretty heroic effort that should be recognized.