spoon
n.— «Police have their hands full on the Gold Coast, not only with violent youths, domestic violence and drug dealers, but with the mentally ill. They have their own patois, referring to deranged people as “spoons’ because giving them a knife or fork would provide them with a deadly weapon.» —“Crims push limits of tolerance” Gold Coast Bulletin (Molendinar, Queensland, Australia) June 1, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
A firefighter named Steve in Newport News, Virginia, wonders why in his line of work, and for some police, certain additional kinds of days off after long unbroken shifts are called Kelly days, Kelly shifts, or Kelly time. The term most likely comes...
Among the proverbs in Leo Rosten’s Treasury of Jewish Quotations (Amazon): If you drop gold and books, pick up the books first, then the gold. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Who Is Just Carrying Around Gold, Anyway?” Here’s a...