Spoon.

He hath need of a long spoon that eateth with the devil. Shakespeare alludes to this proverb in the Comedy of Errors, iv. 3; and again in the Tempest, ii. 2, where Stephano says: “Mercy! mercy! this is a devil … I will leave him, I have no long spoon.”

2


“Therefor behoveth him a ful long spoon

That schal ete with a feend.”


Chaucer: The Squieres Tale, 10,916.

previous entry · index · next entry

Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

Spittle Sermons
Splay
Spleen
Splendid Shilling
Splice
Splice the Main Brace
Spoke (verb)
Spoke (noun)
Sponge
Spontaneous Combustion
Spoon
Spoon (A)
Spooning
Spoony
Sporran (Gaelic)
Sport a Door or Oak
Sporting Seasons in England
Spouse (Spouze, 1 syl.)
Spout
Sprat
Spread-eagle (To)

Linking here:

Teaspoon (A)