ratio of word probabilities predicted from brain for pants and spoon

close this window

pants

spoon

top 10 words in brain distribution (in article):
form body type common state time world refer function term top 10 words in brain distribution (in article):
produce sugar time form food common state type century world

top 10 words in brain distribution (not in article):
plant cell fruit grow produce seed leaf tree flower sugar top 10 words in brain distribution (not in article):
plant fruit fuel grow seed oil engine leaf species tree

times more probable under pants 30 20 10 6 4 2.5 1.25 1 1.25 2.5 4 6 10 20 30 times more probable under spoon
(words not in the model)

Trousers'" are an item of clothing worn on the lower part of the body from the waist to the ankles, covering both legs separately (rather than with cloth stretching across both as in skirts and dresses). Such items of clothing are often referred to as "'pants'" in countries such as Canada, South Africa and The United States. Additional synonyms include "'slacks'", "'kegs'" or "'kex'", "'breeches'" (sometimes) or "'breeks'". Historically, as for the West, trousers have been the standard lower-body clothing item for males since the 16th century; by the late 20th century, they had become prevalent for females as well. Trousers are worn at the hips or waist, and may be held up by their own fastenings, a belt, or suspenders (braces). Leggings are form-fitting trousers of a clingy material, often knitted cotton and lycra. Terminology. In North America, "pants" is the general category term, and "trousers" refers, often more formally, specifically to tailored garments with a waistband and (typically) belt-loops and a fly-front. For instance, informal elastic-waist knitted garments would never be called "trousers" in the U.S. Undergarments are called "underwear", "underpants", or "panties" (the last are women's garments specifically) to distinguish them from other pants that are worn on the outside. The term "drawers" normally refers to undergarments, but in some dialects, may be found as a synonym for "breeches", that is, trousers. In these dialects, the term "underdrawers" is used for undergarments. In Australia the terms "pants" and "trousers" are synonymous. In most parts of the United Kingdom, "trousers" is the general category term, and "pants" refers to underwear. In some parts of Scotland, trousers are known as "trews"; taken from the early Middle English "trouse", its plural developed into "trousers". Various people in the contemporary fashion industry use the word "pant" instead of "pants". This is grammatically incorrect. The word pants is a "plurale tantum", always in plural form much like the words scissors and tongs. The origin of pants is due to the use of two pieces of cloth in making it. Pant would actually mean just a single leg being covered with clothing. History. Nomadic Eurasian horsemen such as the Iranian Scythians, along with Achaemenid Persians, were among the first to wear trousers. In ancient China, trousers were only worn by soldiers. The first european appearance of trousers was in Hungary in the IX century. Men's clothes in Hungary in the 15th century consisted of a shirt and trousers as underwear, and a dolman worn over them, as well as a short fur-lined or sheepskin coat. At special occasions people wore gowns made of expensive materials, and these preferred by Pipo of Ozora too. Hungarian people had unique hair styles and wore high (fur) caps. Their trousers were simple in general, only their colour being unusual, but the dolman covered the greater part of the trousers. Trousers were introduced into Western European culture at several points in history, but gained their current predominance only in the 16th century, from a Commedia dell'Arte character named "Pantalone" (Italian word for Trousers). In England in the Twelfth century, the rustic were often seen in long garments to the ankle, rather like trousers, which are really glorified braies. Strangely enough, trouserlike garments, which became rare again in the thirteenth century, vanished during the fourteenth century and scarcely reappeared for six hundred years. The word itself is of Gaelic or Scots Gaelic origin, from the Middle Irish word "triubhas" (close-fitting shorts), however it is important to note that trews of the Early Industrial Period were in not trousers. Men's trousers. Trousers trace their ancestry to the individual hose worn by men in the 15th century (which is why trousers are plural and not singular). The hose were easy to make and fastened to a doublet at the top with ties called "points". It is important that at this point in time, these were not trousers, but trews, as can be seen in the 1746 painting by David Morier.. As time went by, the two hose were joined, first in the back then across the front, but still leaving a large opening for sanitary functions. Originally, doublets came almost to the knees, effectively covering the private parts, but as fashions changed and doublets became shorter, it became necessary for men to cover their genitals with a codpiece. By the end of the 16th century, the codpiece had been incorporated into the hose, now usually called breeches, which were roughly knee-length and featured a "fly" or "fall front" opening. During the French Revolution, the male citizens of France adopted a working-class costume including ankle-length trousers or pantaloons in place of the aristocratic knee-breeches. This style was introduced to England in the early 19th century, possibly by Beau Brummell, and supplanted breeches as fashionable street wear by mid-century. Breeches survived into the 1940s as the plus-fours or knickers worn for active sports and by young school-boys. Types of breeches are still worn today by baseball and American football players. Sailors may have played a role in the dissemination of trousers as a fashion around the world. In the 17th and 18th centuries, sailors wore baggy trousers known as "galligaskins". Sailors were also the first to wear jeans, trousers made of denim. These became more popular in the late 19th century in the American West, because of their ruggedness and durability. Women's trousers. Although trousers for women in western countries did not become fashion items until the later 20th century, women began wearing men's trousers (suitably altered) for outdoor work a hundred years earlier. Starting around the mid 19th Century, Wigan "pit brow girls" scandalized Victorian society by wearing trousers for their work at the local coal mines. They wore skirts over their trousers and rolled them up to their waist to keep them out of the way. Although "pit brow lassies" worked above-ground at the pit-head, the task of sorting and shovelling coal was hard manual labour, so wearing the usual long skirts of the time would have greatly hindered their movements. Women working the ranches of the 19th century American West also wore trousers for riding, and in the early 20th century aviatrices and other working women often wore trousers. Actresses Marlene Dietrich and Katharine Hepburn were often photographed in trousers from the 1930s and helped make trousers acceptable for women. During World War II, women working in factories and doing other forms of "men's work" on war service wore trousers when the work demanded it, and in the post-war era trousers became acceptable casual wear for gardening, the beach, and other leisure pursuits. In Britain during the Second World War, because of the rationing of clothing, many women took to wearing their husbands' civilian clothes, including their trousers, to work while their husbands were away in the armed forces. This was partly because they were seen as practical garments of workwear, and partly to allow women to keep their clothing allowance for other uses. As this practice of wearing trousers became more widespread and as the men's clothes wore out, replacements were needed, so that by the summer of 1944 it was reported that sales of women's trousers were five times more than in the previous year. In the 1960s, André Courrèges introduced long trousers for women as a fashion item, leading to the era of the pantsuit and designer jeans and the gradual eroding of the prohibitions against girls and women wearing trousers in schools, the workplace, and fine restaurants. Pleats. Pleats just below the waistband on the front are typical of many styles of formal and casual trousers including suit trousers and khakis. There may be one, two, three, or no pleats, which may face either direction. When the pleats open towards the pockets they are called reverse pleats (typical of khakis and corduroy trousers) and when they open toward the zipper, they are known as forward pleats. Utilitarian or very casual styles such as jeans and cargo pants are flat-front (without pleats at the waistband) but may have bellows pockets. Cuffs. Most trouser legs are finished by hemming the bottom to prevent fraying. Trousers with cuffs ("turn-ups" in British English), after hemming, are rolled outward and sometimes pressed or stitched into place. The main reason for the cuffs is to add weight to the bottom of the leg, to help the drape of the trousers. Fly. A fly on clothing is a covering over an opening join concealing the mechanism, such as a zip, velcro or buttons used to join the opening. The term is most frequently applied to a short opening in trousers, shorts and other garments covering the groin, and to allow garments to be taken on and off with greater ease. Trousers have varied historically in whether or not they have flies. Originally, hose did not cover between the legs, which was hidden by a codpiece, and when breeches were worn, for example in the Regency period, they were fall-fronted (or broad fall). After trousers (pantaloons) were later invented later the fly-front (split fall) emerged. Later the panelled front returned as a sporting option, such as in riding breeches, but is now hardly used, flies being by far A spoon'" is a utensil consisting of a small shallow bowl, oval or round, at the end of a handle. A type of cutlery (usually called flatware in the United States), especially as part of a place setting, it is used primarily for serving and eating liquid or semisolid food (sometimes called "spoon-meat"), and solid foods such as rice and cereal which cannot easily be lifted with a fork. Spoons are also used in food preparation to measure, mix, stir and toss ingredients. They can be made from metal (notably flat silver or silverware, plated or solid), wood or plastic. Abbreviation: sp. History. The earliest northern European spoon would seem to have been a chip or splinter of wood; Greek references point to the early and natural use of shells, such as those that are still used by primitive peoples. Ancient Indian texts also refer to the use of spoons. For example, the Rigveda refers to spoons during a passage describing the reflection of light as it "touches the spoon's mouth" (RV 8.43.10). Preserved examples of various forms of spoons used by the ancient Egyptians include those composed of ivory, flint, slate and wood; many of them carved with religious symbols. The spoons of the Greeks and Romans were chiefly made of bronze and silver and the handle usually takes the form of a spike or pointed stem. There are many examples in the British Museum from which the forms of the various types can be ascertained, the chief points of difference being found in the junction of the bowl with the handle. Middle Ages spoons at Chillon Castel Medieval spoons for domestic use were commonly made of cow horn or wood, but brass, pewter, and latten spoons appear to have been common in about the 15th century. The full descriptions and entries relating to silver spoons in the inventories of the royal and other households point to their special value and rarity. The earliest English reference appears to be in a will of 1259. In the wardrobe accounts of Edward I for the year 1300 some gold and silver spoons marked with the "fleur-de-lis", the Paris mark, are mentioned. One of the most interesting medieval spoons is the coronation spoon used in the anointing of the English sovereign. The sets of Apostle Spoons, popular as christening presents in Tudor times, the handles of which terminate in heads or busts of the apostles, are a special form to which antiquarian interest attaches. The earlier English spoon-handles terminate in an acorn, plain knob or a diamond; at the end of the 16th century, the baluster and seal ending becomes common, the bowl being fig-shaped. During The Restoration, the handle becomes broad and flat, the bowl is broad and oval and the termination is cut into the shape known as the hind's foot. In the first quarter of the 18th century, the bowl becomes narrow and elliptical, with a tongue or rat's tail down the back, and the handle is turned up at the end. The modern form, with the tip of the bowl narrower than the base and the rounded end of the handle turned down, came into use about 1760. Types and uses. Spoons are used primarily for eating liquid or semi-liquid foods, such as soup, stew or ice cream, and very small or powdery solid items which cannot be easily lifted with a fork, such as rice, sugar, cereals and green peas. In Southeast Asia, spoons are the primary utensil used for eating; forks are used only to push food onto the spoon. Spoons are also widely used in cooking and serving. In baking, batter is usually thin enough to pour or drop from a spoon; a mixture of such consistency is sometimes called "drop batter”. Rolled dough dropped from a spoon to a cookie sheet can be made into rock cakes and other cookies, while johnnycake may be prepared by dropping spoonfuls of cornmeal onto a hot greased griddle. A spoon is similarly useful in processing jelly, sugar and syrup. A test sample of jelly taken from a boiling mass may be allowed to slip from a spoon in a sheet, in a step called "sheeting". At the "crack" stage, syrup from boiling sugar may be dripped from a spoon, causing it to break with a snap when chilled. When boiled to 240°F. and poured from a spoon, sugar forms a filament, or "thread". Hot syrup is said to "pearl" when it forms such a long thread without breaking when dropped from a spoon. Used for stirring, a spoon is passed through a substance with a continued circular movement for the purpose of mixing, blending, dissolving, cooling, or preventing sticking of the ingredients. Mixed drinks may be "muddled" by working a spoon to crush and mix ingredients such as mint and sugar on the bottom of a glass or mixer. Spoons are employed for mixing certain kinds of powder into water to make a sweet or nutritious drink. A spoon may also be employed to toss ingredients by mixing them lightly until they are well coated with a dressing. A spoonful'"—the amount of material a spoon contains or can contain—is used as a standard unit of measure for volume in cooking, where it normally signifies a "'teaspoonful'". It is abbreviated "coch" or "cochl", from Latin "cochleare". "Teaspoonful" is often used in a similar way to describe the dosage for over the counter medicines. Dessert spoonful and tablespoonful may also be found in drink and food recipes. A teaspoon holds about 5ml and a tablespoon about 15ml. For storage, spoons and knives were sometimes placed in paired "knife boxes", which were often ornate wooden containers with sloping top, used especially during the 18th century. On the table, an ornamental utensil called a "nef", shaped like a ship, might hold a napkin, knife and spoon. The souvenir spoon generally exists solely as a decorative object commemorating an event, place, or special date. Spoons can also be used as a musical instrument. To "spoon-feed" oneself or another can simply mean to feed by means of a spoon. Metaphorically, however, it often means to present something to a person or group so thoroughly or wholeheartedly as to preclude the need of independent thought, initiative or self-reliance on the part of the recipient; or to present information in a slanted version, with the intent to preclude questioning or revision. Someone who accepts passively what has been offered in this way is said to have been spoon-fed. Manufacture. For machine-made spoons, the basic shape is cut out from a sheet of sterling silver, nickel silver alloy or stainless steel. The bowl is cross rolled between two pressurized rollers to produce a thinner section. The handle section is also rolled to produce the width needed for the top end. The blank is then cropped to the required shape, and two dies are used to apply the pattern to the blank. The fash is then removed using a lynisher, and the bowl is formed between two dies and bent. To make a spoon the traditional by way of handforging, a bar of silver is marked up to the correct proportions for the bowl and handle. It is then heated until red hot and held in tongs and using the hammer and anvil, beaten into shape. The tip of the bar is pointed to form the tip of the bowl, then hammered to form the bowl. If a heel is to be added, a section down the centre is left thicker. The edges of the bowl and the tip of the spoon are left thicker as this is where most of the thickness is needed. The handle is then started and hammered out to length going from thick at the neck and gradually tapering down in thickness giving a balanced feel. During this process the piece becomes very hard and has to be annealed several times, then worked again until the final shape is achieved. The bowl is filed to shape, often using a metal template. The bowl is then formed using a tin cake and spoon stake. The molten tin is poured around the spoon stake and left to harden. The handle is then bent down to 45 degrees, and the spoon is hammered into the tin using the spoon stake and a heavy hammer, to form the bowl. The bend in the handle is then adjusted to match the other spoons in the set and so it sits correctly on the table. The bowl is then filed level, a process called striking off. The surfaces are filed, first with a rough file to remove the fire stain from the surface, then with a smooth file. It is then buffed to remove any file marks and fire stain from inside the bowl and is polished to the desired finish. During the hand-forging process the spoon will have been hit with a hammer over 300 hundred times. A machine made spoon receives one or two blows from a press. Bibliography. Features broad array of collectible spoons from around the world, with values. Contains historical information and photos of antique collectible spoons.

pants	spoon
top 10 words in brain distribution (in article): form body type common state time world refer function term	top 10 words in brain distribution (in article): produce sugar time form food common state type century world
top 10 words in brain distribution (not in article): plant cell fruit grow produce seed leaf tree flower sugar	top 10 words in brain distribution (not in article): plant fruit fuel grow seed oil engine leaf species tree
times more probable under pants 30 20 10 6 4 2.5 1.25 1 1.25 2.5 4 6 10 20 30 times more probable under spoon (words not in the model)
Trousers'" are an item of clothing worn on the lower part of the body from the waist to the ankles, covering both legs separately (rather than with cloth stretching across both as in skirts and dresses). Such items of clothing are often referred to as "'pants'" in countries such as Canada, South Africa and The United States. Additional synonyms include "'slacks'", "'kegs'" or "'kex'", "'breeches'" (sometimes) or "'breeks'". Historically, as for the West, trousers have been the standard lower-body clothing item for males since the 16th century; by the late 20th century, they had become prevalent for females as well. Trousers are worn at the hips or waist, and may be held up by their own fastenings, a belt, or suspenders (braces). Leggings are form-fitting trousers of a clingy material, often knitted cotton and lycra. Terminology. In North America, "pants" is the general category term, and "trousers" refers, often more formally, specifically to tailored garments with a waistband and (typically) belt-loops and a fly-front. For instance, informal elastic-waist knitted garments would never be called "trousers" in the U.S. Undergarments are called "underwear", "underpants", or "panties" (the last are women's garments specifically) to distinguish them from other pants that are worn on the outside. The term "drawers" normally refers to undergarments, but in some dialects, may be found as a synonym for "breeches", that is, trousers. In these dialects, the term "underdrawers" is used for undergarments. In Australia the terms "pants" and "trousers" are synonymous. In most parts of the United Kingdom, "trousers" is the general category term, and "pants" refers to underwear. In some parts of Scotland, trousers are known as "trews"; taken from the early Middle English "trouse", its plural developed into "trousers". Various people in the contemporary fashion industry use the word "pant" instead of "pants". This is grammatically incorrect. The word pants is a "plurale tantum", always in plural form much like the words scissors and tongs. The origin of pants is due to the use of two pieces of cloth in making it. Pant would actually mean just a single leg being covered with clothing. History. Nomadic Eurasian horsemen such as the Iranian Scythians, along with Achaemenid Persians, were among the first to wear trousers. In ancient China, trousers were only worn by soldiers. The first european appearance of trousers was in Hungary in the IX century. Men's clothes in Hungary in the 15th century consisted of a shirt and trousers as underwear, and a dolman worn over them, as well as a short fur-lined or sheepskin coat. At special occasions people wore gowns made of expensive materials, and these preferred by Pipo of Ozora too. Hungarian people had unique hair styles and wore high (fur) caps. Their trousers were simple in general, only their colour being unusual, but the dolman covered the greater part of the trousers. Trousers were introduced into Western European culture at several points in history, but gained their current predominance only in the 16th century, from a Commedia dell'Arte character named "Pantalone" (Italian word for Trousers). In England in the Twelfth century, the rustic were often seen in long garments to the ankle, rather like trousers, which are really glorified braies. Strangely enough, trouserlike garments, which became rare again in the thirteenth century, vanished during the fourteenth century and scarcely reappeared for six hundred years. The word itself is of Gaelic or Scots Gaelic origin, from the Middle Irish word "triubhas" (close-fitting shorts), however it is important to note that trews of the Early Industrial Period were in not trousers. Men's trousers. Trousers trace their ancestry to the individual hose worn by men in the 15th century (which is why trousers are plural and not singular). The hose were easy to make and fastened to a doublet at the top with ties called "points". It is important that at this point in time, these were not trousers, but trews, as can be seen in the 1746 painting by David Morier.. As time went by, the two hose were joined, first in the back then across the front, but still leaving a large opening for sanitary functions. Originally, doublets came almost to the knees, effectively covering the private parts, but as fashions changed and doublets became shorter, it became necessary for men to cover their genitals with a codpiece. By the end of the 16th century, the codpiece had been incorporated into the hose, now usually called breeches, which were roughly knee-length and featured a "fly" or "fall front" opening. During the French Revolution, the male citizens of France adopted a working-class costume including ankle-length trousers or pantaloons in place of the aristocratic knee-breeches. This style was introduced to England in the early 19th century, possibly by Beau Brummell, and supplanted breeches as fashionable street wear by mid-century. Breeches survived into the 1940s as the plus-fours or knickers worn for active sports and by young school-boys. Types of breeches are still worn today by baseball and American football players. Sailors may have played a role in the dissemination of trousers as a fashion around the world. In the 17th and 18th centuries, sailors wore baggy trousers known as "galligaskins". Sailors were also the first to wear jeans, trousers made of denim. These became more popular in the late 19th century in the American West, because of their ruggedness and durability. Women's trousers. Although trousers for women in western countries did not become fashion items until the later 20th century, women began wearing men's trousers (suitably altered) for outdoor work a hundred years earlier. Starting around the mid 19th Century, Wigan "pit brow girls" scandalized Victorian society by wearing trousers for their work at the local coal mines. They wore skirts over their trousers and rolled them up to their waist to keep them out of the way. Although "pit brow lassies" worked above-ground at the pit-head, the task of sorting and shovelling coal was hard manual labour, so wearing the usual long skirts of the time would have greatly hindered their movements. Women working the ranches of the 19th century American West also wore trousers for riding, and in the early 20th century aviatrices and other working women often wore trousers. Actresses Marlene Dietrich and Katharine Hepburn were often photographed in trousers from the 1930s and helped make trousers acceptable for women. During World War II, women working in factories and doing other forms of "men's work" on war service wore trousers when the work demanded it, and in the post-war era trousers became acceptable casual wear for gardening, the beach, and other leisure pursuits. In Britain during the Second World War, because of the rationing of clothing, many women took to wearing their husbands' civilian clothes, including their trousers, to work while their husbands were away in the armed forces. This was partly because they were seen as practical garments of workwear, and partly to allow women to keep their clothing allowance for other uses. As this practice of wearing trousers became more widespread and as the men's clothes wore out, replacements were needed, so that by the summer of 1944 it was reported that sales of women's trousers were five times more than in the previous year. In the 1960s, André Courrèges introduced long trousers for women as a fashion item, leading to the era of the pantsuit and designer jeans and the gradual eroding of the prohibitions against girls and women wearing trousers in schools, the workplace, and fine restaurants. Pleats. Pleats just below the waistband on the front are typical of many styles of formal and casual trousers including suit trousers and khakis. There may be one, two, three, or no pleats, which may face either direction. When the pleats open towards the pockets they are called reverse pleats (typical of khakis and corduroy trousers) and when they open toward the zipper, they are known as forward pleats. Utilitarian or very casual styles such as jeans and cargo pants are flat-front (without pleats at the waistband) but may have bellows pockets. Cuffs. Most trouser legs are finished by hemming the bottom to prevent fraying. Trousers with cuffs ("turn-ups" in British English), after hemming, are rolled outward and sometimes pressed or stitched into place. The main reason for the cuffs is to add weight to the bottom of the leg, to help the drape of the trousers. Fly. A fly on clothing is a covering over an opening join concealing the mechanism, such as a zip, velcro or buttons used to join the opening. The term is most frequently applied to a short opening in trousers, shorts and other garments covering the groin, and to allow garments to be taken on and off with greater ease. Trousers have varied historically in whether or not they have flies. Originally, hose did not cover between the legs, which was hidden by a codpiece, and when breeches were worn, for example in the Regency period, they were fall-fronted (or broad fall). After trousers (pantaloons) were later invented later the fly-front (split fall) emerged. Later the panelled front returned as a sporting option, such as in riding breeches, but is now hardly used, flies being by far	A spoon'" is a utensil consisting of a small shallow bowl, oval or round, at the end of a handle. A type of cutlery (usually called flatware in the United States), especially as part of a place setting, it is used primarily for serving and eating liquid or semisolid food (sometimes called "spoon-meat"), and solid foods such as rice and cereal which cannot easily be lifted with a fork. Spoons are also used in food preparation to measure, mix, stir and toss ingredients. They can be made from metal (notably flat silver or silverware, plated or solid), wood or plastic. Abbreviation: sp. History. The earliest northern European spoon would seem to have been a chip or splinter of wood; Greek references point to the early and natural use of shells, such as those that are still used by primitive peoples. Ancient Indian texts also refer to the use of spoons. For example, the Rigveda refers to spoons during a passage describing the reflection of light as it "touches the spoon's mouth" (RV 8.43.10). Preserved examples of various forms of spoons used by the ancient Egyptians include those composed of ivory, flint, slate and wood; many of them carved with religious symbols. The spoons of the Greeks and Romans were chiefly made of bronze and silver and the handle usually takes the form of a spike or pointed stem. There are many examples in the British Museum from which the forms of the various types can be ascertained, the chief points of difference being found in the junction of the bowl with the handle. Middle Ages spoons at Chillon Castel Medieval spoons for domestic use were commonly made of cow horn or wood, but brass, pewter, and latten spoons appear to have been common in about the 15th century. The full descriptions and entries relating to silver spoons in the inventories of the royal and other households point to their special value and rarity. The earliest English reference appears to be in a will of 1259. In the wardrobe accounts of Edward I for the year 1300 some gold and silver spoons marked with the "fleur-de-lis", the Paris mark, are mentioned. One of the most interesting medieval spoons is the coronation spoon used in the anointing of the English sovereign. The sets of Apostle Spoons, popular as christening presents in Tudor times, the handles of which terminate in heads or busts of the apostles, are a special form to which antiquarian interest attaches. The earlier English spoon-handles terminate in an acorn, plain knob or a diamond; at the end of the 16th century, the baluster and seal ending becomes common, the bowl being fig-shaped. During The Restoration, the handle becomes broad and flat, the bowl is broad and oval and the termination is cut into the shape known as the hind's foot. In the first quarter of the 18th century, the bowl becomes narrow and elliptical, with a tongue or rat's tail down the back, and the handle is turned up at the end. The modern form, with the tip of the bowl narrower than the base and the rounded end of the handle turned down, came into use about 1760. Types and uses. Spoons are used primarily for eating liquid or semi-liquid foods, such as soup, stew or ice cream, and very small or powdery solid items which cannot be easily lifted with a fork, such as rice, sugar, cereals and green peas. In Southeast Asia, spoons are the primary utensil used for eating; forks are used only to push food onto the spoon. Spoons are also widely used in cooking and serving. In baking, batter is usually thin enough to pour or drop from a spoon; a mixture of such consistency is sometimes called "drop batter”. Rolled dough dropped from a spoon to a cookie sheet can be made into rock cakes and other cookies, while johnnycake may be prepared by dropping spoonfuls of cornmeal onto a hot greased griddle. A spoon is similarly useful in processing jelly, sugar and syrup. A test sample of jelly taken from a boiling mass may be allowed to slip from a spoon in a sheet, in a step called "sheeting". At the "crack" stage, syrup from boiling sugar may be dripped from a spoon, causing it to break with a snap when chilled. When boiled to 240°F. and poured from a spoon, sugar forms a filament, or "thread". Hot syrup is said to "pearl" when it forms such a long thread without breaking when dropped from a spoon. Used for stirring, a spoon is passed through a substance with a continued circular movement for the purpose of mixing, blending, dissolving, cooling, or preventing sticking of the ingredients. Mixed drinks may be "muddled" by working a spoon to crush and mix ingredients such as mint and sugar on the bottom of a glass or mixer. Spoons are employed for mixing certain kinds of powder into water to make a sweet or nutritious drink. A spoon may also be employed to toss ingredients by mixing them lightly until they are well coated with a dressing. A spoonful'"—the amount of material a spoon contains or can contain—is used as a standard unit of measure for volume in cooking, where it normally signifies a "'teaspoonful'". It is abbreviated "coch" or "cochl", from Latin "cochleare". "Teaspoonful" is often used in a similar way to describe the dosage for over the counter medicines. Dessert spoonful and tablespoonful may also be found in drink and food recipes. A teaspoon holds about 5ml and a tablespoon about 15ml. For storage, spoons and knives were sometimes placed in paired "knife boxes", which were often ornate wooden containers with sloping top, used especially during the 18th century. On the table, an ornamental utensil called a "nef", shaped like a ship, might hold a napkin, knife and spoon. The souvenir spoon generally exists solely as a decorative object commemorating an event, place, or special date. Spoons can also be used as a musical instrument. To "spoon-feed" oneself or another can simply mean to feed by means of a spoon. Metaphorically, however, it often means to present something to a person or group so thoroughly or wholeheartedly as to preclude the need of independent thought, initiative or self-reliance on the part of the recipient; or to present information in a slanted version, with the intent to preclude questioning or revision. Someone who accepts passively what has been offered in this way is said to have been spoon-fed. Manufacture. For machine-made spoons, the basic shape is cut out from a sheet of sterling silver, nickel silver alloy or stainless steel. The bowl is cross rolled between two pressurized rollers to produce a thinner section. The handle section is also rolled to produce the width needed for the top end. The blank is then cropped to the required shape, and two dies are used to apply the pattern to the blank. The fash is then removed using a lynisher, and the bowl is formed between two dies and bent. To make a spoon the traditional by way of handforging, a bar of silver is marked up to the correct proportions for the bowl and handle. It is then heated until red hot and held in tongs and using the hammer and anvil, beaten into shape. The tip of the bar is pointed to form the tip of the bowl, then hammered to form the bowl. If a heel is to be added, a section down the centre is left thicker. The edges of the bowl and the tip of the spoon are left thicker as this is where most of the thickness is needed. The handle is then started and hammered out to length going from thick at the neck and gradually tapering down in thickness giving a balanced feel. During this process the piece becomes very hard and has to be annealed several times, then worked again until the final shape is achieved. The bowl is filed to shape, often using a metal template. The bowl is then formed using a tin cake and spoon stake. The molten tin is poured around the spoon stake and left to harden. The handle is then bent down to 45 degrees, and the spoon is hammered into the tin using the spoon stake and a heavy hammer, to form the bowl. The bend in the handle is then adjusted to match the other spoons in the set and so it sits correctly on the table. The bowl is then filed level, a process called striking off. The surfaces are filed, first with a rough file to remove the fire stain from the surface, then with a smooth file. It is then buffed to remove any file marks and fire stain from inside the bowl and is polished to the desired finish. During the hand-forging process the spoon will have been hit with a hammer over 300 hundred times. A machine made spoon receives one or two blows from a press. Bibliography. Features broad array of collectible spoons from around the world, with values. Contains historical information and photos of antique collectible spoons.