Now that right there is the fundamental crux of a good riddle!
But it would have to be spoken, not written.
Have you had a Scarborough Fork?
Parsley, sage, and rosemary on tines…
Can a tine have a fork? Does a toe have a foot?
Common in UK English (much more likely to be readily understood than aglet)
I’m from Toronto originally. I know what a tine is, as did my friends there.
It’s a common word to me. Don’t have much cause to use it in casual conversation, but it’s not obscure.
Tine is also used for the forks on a forklift , and the verticals of a ladder.
The same for me. I don’t think I’ve ever actually heard someone say the word.
Sez you. (It’s Victorian, of course.)
Huh ? I have never heard the verticals of a ladder referred to as anything other than the stiles … and the steps you stand on are called the rungs
“Stiles” is probably as obscure to the average person in the street as “tines” , but I think most people would be familiar with “rungs”.
While I don’t use “tine” very often at all, I do use it more than “commonest.”
It is the only word I can think of for “what would you call the pointy extensions on a fork.” But I don’t think I’ve ever heard it used for anything else.
(Grew up in Washington and spent whole life there, HI, or CA.)
It is certainly far more commonly used than ideolect. It is even found in Google 200 times more often than idiolect.
Common term IME. I know I’ve yelled, “Who the fuck left this here tines up?” regarding a pitchfork in the barn.
Which styles of cabinets do not have stiles?
cabinets with flush (non-panelled ) doors.
Yeah, I couldn’t have told you they were called “stiles.” Not sure I know that word, but I am very familiar with “tines” (and, of course, “rungs.”)
Interesting. The one from Toronto (pronounced Tranah, BTW) has a PhD in math and is a coauthor of several of my papers, so not exactly a country hick. The other one informant was not highly educated, but still seems intelligent enough.
I did know the word “stile”, but only in connection with barrier to keep livestock, but not people, out. And of course, there is “turnstile”, obviously related.
Leaving a rake tines up is a real no-no.
The word tine doesn’t only refer to the prongs of a table fork. Tine is also what the individual sound producing elements of an electric piano are called. This usage is similar to table fork tines as electric pianos have tuning forks and the tine is part of that. But you don’t call the piano part a “prong”
Interestingly, I had the exact opposite experience. I read the thread title and went 
“WTF is ‘tine’?” Then read the OP and went :smack: “oh, as in on a fork!”