Runcible spoon

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A runcible spoon is a fictitious utensil that appears in the nonsense poetry of Edward Lear. More generally, the word "runcible" is also used of objects other than spoons in Lear's work. It is fundamentally a nonsense word.

The word "runcible" is a neologism.

1 Spoons
2 Other runcible objects
3 Other definitions
4 Other references
- 4.1 Fiction
- 4.2 Business
5 See also
6 References

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Spoons

Image:Lear Runcible spoon.png Lear's best-known poem, The Owl and the Pussycat, 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 "D" 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 (see right).

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Other runcible objects

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

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Other definitions

Modern dictionaries generally define a runcible spoon to be a fork with three prongs, such as a pickle fork, which is curved like a spoon, and also has a cutting edge. However, this usage dates from the 1920's, several decades after Lear's death, and it appears to be distinct from Lear's usage. It is not consistent with Lear's own drawing of a "runcible spoon," mentioned above, and it does not account for the other "runcible" objects in Lear's poems. Lear's whimsical nonsense verse celebrates words primarily for their sound, so his use of "runcible" need not have any particular meaning.

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Other references

The whimsical feel of the word "runcible" has led to its appearance in diverse arenas including fiction and business.

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Fiction

In the board game Kill Doctor Lucky, a runcible spoon is one of the weapons players can use to kill Doctor Lucky.
Runcible Spoon is the name of an elemental researching mage in the web-comic Dominic Deegan: Oracle For Hire.
In Neal Asher's novel Gridlinked, runcible is the name given to an interstellar teleporter.
In Neal Stephenson's novel The Diamond Age, runcible is a code name for the Young Lady's Illustrated Primer.