All Topics  
Runcible spoon

 

   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link

 

Runcible spoon


 
 

A runcible spoonSpoon

A spoon is a common eating utensil, or item of cutlery, somewhat like a small spade, with a bowl-shaped end on a handle, tha...
is a utensil that appears in the nonsense poetryNonsense verse

Nonsense verse is a form of poetry, normally composed for humorous effect, which is...
 of Edward LearEdward Lear

Edward Lear was an artist, illustrator and writer known for his nonsensical poetry and his limericks, a form which he popul...
. Lear also uses the adjective "runcible" to describe objects other than spoons. It is fundamentally a nonsenseNonsense

Nonsense is an utterance or written text in what appears to be a human language or other symbolic system, that does not in f...
 word.

Origin

Lear's best-known poem, The Owl and the PussycatThe Owl and the Pussycat Summary

"The Owl and the Pussycat" is a famous nonsense poem by Edward Lear, first published in 1871....
, published in 1871, includes the passage
They dined on mince and slices of quince,
which they ate with a runcible spoon.

Another mention of this piece of cutlery appears in the alphabetical illustrations Twenty-Six Nonsense Rhymes and Pictures. Its entry for DD

The letter D is the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet. In English, it is pronounced "dee." . ...
 reads
The Dolomphious Duck,
who caught Spotted Frogs for her dinner
with a Runcible Spoon

Lear often illustrated his own poems, and he drew a picture of the "dolomphious duck" holding in its beak a round-bowled spoon containing a frog (right).

Other runcible objects

The word "runcible" was apparently one of Lear's favourite inventions, appearing in several of his works in reference to a number of different objects. In his verse self-portrait, The Self-Portrait of the Laureate of Nonsense, it is noted that "he weareth a runcible hat". Other poems include mention of a "runcible cat", a "runcible goose", and a "runcible wall".

Attempts to define the word

Lear does not appear to have had any firm idea of what the word "runcible" means. His whimsical nonsense verseNonsense verse

Nonsense verse is a form of poetry, normally composed for humorous effect, which is...
 celebrates words primarily for their sound, and a specific definition is not needed to appreciate his work. However, since the 1920s (several decades after Lear's death), modern dictionariesDictionary

A dictionary is a list of words with their definitions, a list of characters with their glyphs, or a list of words with corr...
 have generally defined a runcible spoon to be a forkFork

As a piece of cutlery or kitchenware, a fork is a tool consisting of a handle with several narrow tines on one end....
 with three prongs, such as a picklePickling

Pickling, or corning, is the process of preparing a food by soaking and storing it in a brine containing salt and/or a...
 fork. It is occasionally used as a synonym for sporkSpork

A spork is a hybrid form of cutlery....
. However, this definition is not consistent with Lear's drawing, in which it is a ladleLadle (spoon)

A ladle is a type of spoon used to serve soup or other liquids....
, nor does it account for the other "runcible" objects in Lear's poems.

LatinLatin

Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome....
 runcare = "to weed", "to thin out", and:-
  • If a Latin noun runcibulum existed (as an error for runcabulum), it would mean "tool used for weeding".
  • If a Latin adjective runcibilis existed (as an error for runcabilis), it would mean "capable of being weeded out".

In popular culture

The whimsical feel of the word "runcible" has led to its appearance in diverse arenas including fictionFiction

Fiction is storytelling of imagined events and stands in contrast to non-fiction, which makes factual claims about reality....
, musicMusic

Music is an art, entertainment, or other human activity that involves organized and audible sounds and silence....
, and businessSmall business

A small business may be defined as a business with a small number of employees....
.

Fiction

  • In Ian IrvineIan Irvine

    Ian Irvine is an Australian fantasy/eco-thriller author and marine scientist. ...
    's Runcible JonesRuncible Jones Quintet

    The Runcible Jones Quintet is a fantasy adventure series quintet, by author Ian Irvine, set on two twinned worlds for all ages fro...
     series of books, Runcible Jones is a boy who is unhappy at Grindgrim Academy, the worst school in the country.
  • In the board game Kill Doctor LuckyKill Doctor Lucky

    Kill Doctor Lucky is a humorous board game designed by James Ernest and released in 1996 by Cheapass Games....
    , a runcible spoon is one of the weaponWeapon

    A weapon is a tool which is intended to or is used to injure, kill, or a person, damage or destroy property, or to otherwis...
    s players can use to kill Doctor Lucky.
  • Professor Runcible Spoon is an elemental researching mage in the web-comic .
  • In Neal AsherNeal Asher

    Neal Asher is an author of science fiction short stories and novels....
    's novel GridlinkedGridlinked

    Gridlinked is Neal Asher's first novel, published by the Macmillan Publishers imprint Pan Books in 2001....
    , runcible is the name given to an interstellar wormhole generator/teleporter, most probably as an homage to the ansibleFacts About Ansible

    In science fiction literature an ansible is a hypothetical faster-than-light communication device....
    .
  • In Neal StephensonNeal Stephenson

    Neal Town Stephenson is an American writer, known primarily for his science fiction works in the postcyberpunk genre with a...
    's novel The Diamond AgeThe Diamond Age

    The Diamond Age or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer is postcyberpunk novel by Neal Stephenson....
    , runcible is a code name for the Young Lady's Illustrated Primer.
  • In Evelyn WaughEvelyn Waugh

    Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh was an English writer, best known for such satirical and darkly humorous novels as Decline a...
    's novel Vile BodiesVile Bodies

    Vile Bodies is a 1930 novel by Evelyn Waugh satirising decadent young London society between World War I and World War I...
    , Runcible is the last name of daft, drunken Agatha.
  • In the Doctor WhoDoctor Who

    Doctor Who is a long-running British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC about a mysterious time-tr...
    serial "The Deadly AssassinFacts About The Deadly Assassin

    The Deadly Assassin is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadca...
    ", Runcible is a Time Lord.
  • In Thomas PynchonThomas Pynchon

    Thomas Ruggles Pynchon, Jr. is an American writer based in New York City....
    's "Gravity's RainbowGravity's Rainbow

    Gravity's Rainbow is a novel written by Thomas Pynchon and first published in 1973....
    ," an exhibition fight with runcible spoons is held.
  • In the roleplaying game , "Runcible Shaw" is the name of a Pooka historian and scholar
  • In Lemony SnicketLemony Snicket

    Lemony Snicket is a character created by Daniel Handler, and the pen-name under which Handler wrote the book series A Seri...
    's The EndThe End (A Series of Unfortunate Events)

    The End is the thirteenth and final novel in the A Series of Unfortunate Events series by Lemony Snicket....
    , an island cult eats using only runcible spoons.
  • In Jasper FfordeJasper Fforde

    Jasper Fforde is a novelist and aviator living in Wales....
    's novel The Eyre AffairThe Eyre Affair

    The Eyre Affair is the first novel published by Jasper Fforde....
    the character Runcible Spoon discovers that Mr. Quaverly from Martin ChuzzlewitMartin Chuzzlewit

    Martin Chuzzlewit is a novel by Charles Dickens, considered the last of his picaresque novels, which was written and ser...
     had mysteriously disappeared.
  • In Jasper FfordeJasper Fforde

    Jasper Fforde is a novelist and aviator living in Wales....
    's novel The Big Over EasyThe Big Over Easy

    The Big Over Easy is a novel written by Jasper Fforde and published in 2005....
    an extract from the Gadfly (a fictional newspaper) reports that at the wedding of the Owl and the Pussycat, "the wedding feast will be mostly mince and slices of quince, served up with a runcible spoon". page 335.
  • In the musical Too Much Caffeine by Steve Delchamps, the setting is a small coffee shop called The Runcible Spoon.
  • In the TV series Dead Like MeDead Like Me

    Dead Like Me is a Showtime television comedy-drama created by Bryan Fuller about a group of grim reapers in Seattle, Was...
    , Rube (a grim reaper) is trying to run the kitchen of Angus Cook (whose soul Rube took), with Angus haunting the kitchen until a replacement cook can be found. Angus lectures Rube on using the "runcible" with eggs, and further identifies it as "the spoon with the holes".
  • In the TV series EdEd (TV series)

    Ed was an NBC television program produced by David Letterman's Worldwide Pants Incorporated from 2000-2004....
    , the name of the pie shop that Ed and his friends frequent is called The Runcible Spoon.
  • The character Louis Runcible in The Penultimate Truth by Philip K. Dick
  • In an episode ("Just My Bill") of the British Sitcom The Good Life (Good Neighbors in the U.S.), Tom Good tries to sell some of his excess vegetable crop to a restaurant called The Runcible Spoon.
  • In the webcomicWebcomic

    Webcomics, also known as online comics, web comics and even womics are comics that are available on the In...
     Questionable ContentQuestionable Content

    Questionable Content is a slice-of-life comedy webcomic written and drawn by Jeph Jacques....
    , J. Edward Runcible (an amalgamation of "Edward Lear" and "Runcible") is the name of a 19th century conspiracy theorist.
  • A character named Runcy Balspoon appears in the Kiakodan Nature Reserve in the text MUD LusterniaLusternia

    Lusternia, Age of Ascension is a roleplay-intensive, text-based multi-user dungeon released in 2004....
    .
  • In the Harry HarrisonHarry Harrison

    Harry Harrison is an American science fiction author best known for his character the Stainless Steel Rat and the novel Ma...
     Stainless Steel Rat series, an errant robot declares, "The runcible rhythm of ravenous raisins rolled through the rookery rambling and raving."
  • In C.J. Sansom's novel "Dissolution," set mainly in a monastery to be dissolved by Thomas Cromwell under Henry VIII, the lead character, Matthew Shardlake, a lawyer working for Cromwell, sups with the monks in their refectory "where a great haunch of beef was served with runcible peas." In this case the word is a version of "rounceval" meaning a large pea, a large woman or a wart.
  • Sir Runcible Murgatroyd is a common name for one of the supernumerarySupernumerary

    Supernumerary is a member of the staff or an employee who works in a public office but is not part of the manpower complemen...
     ghosts in the Gilbert & Sullivan operetta "RuddigoreRuddigore

    Ruddigore, or The Witch's Curse, is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W....
    ".
  • In Claire MessudClaire Messud

    Claire Messud is an American novelist....
    's novel "When The World Was Steady" the character Virginia describes her boss in this way: "Truth be told, she had never found Simon in the least physically attractive: he was squat and runcible and slightly foolish."

Music

  • In the Pretty ThingsPretty Things

    The Pretty Things are a 1960s and 1970s rock and roll band from London. ...
     song "Baron Saturday," the words "You've lost the runcible spoon" are used.


  • Paul McCartneyPaul McCartney

    Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE is an English singer, instrumentalist and songwriter, who first came to prominence as a membe...
    's album Driving RainDriving Rain Overview

    Driving Rain is an album by Paul McCartney, recorded and released in 2001....
    includes the track "Heather" which features the lyrics: "And I will dance to a runcible tune / With the queen of my heart". McCartney has explained the connection to "The Owl and the Pussycat" in various interviews since its release.

Business

  • , a chamber jazz ensemble
  • , a kitchen store in Rhode Island
  • , a restaurant in Bloomington, Indiana
  • , a bakery in Nyack, New York
  • , a restaurant in the Sussex town of Rye, UK

Computer science

  • RUNCIBLE is also the name of a compilerCompiler

    A compiler is a computer program that translates text written in a computer language into another computer language ....
     for an early (late 1950s) programming language. Donald KnuthDonald Knuth

    Donald Ervin Knuth is a renowned computer scientist and at Stanford University....
     published the flowchartFlowchart

    A flowchart is a schematic representation of a process....
     of the compiler in 1959; this was his first academic paper.

See also

  • SporkSpork

    A spork is a hybrid form of cutlery....
  • Vorpal sword