Home » Dictionary » spork

spork

spork
 n.— «The buffalo in question is the fourth vehicle in the patrol, towering over the armored trucks. Rather than an animal, it looks more like a medieval siege engine, with its row of small, thick-lensed windows and an iron-clawed arm folded on its roof. “We call that the ‘spork,’ kind of like the little lunch fork or spoon,” McPhail says. “It’s got the spike on one end and the scoop. I guess the best way to look for an IED is, if you think it’s buried, is to dig it and plop. And if it blows up it’s better than having it blow up on a vehicle.” In official military jargon, that process is called “interrogating” the target.» —“Deadly Concentration: Finding IEDs at Night” by Corey Flintoff National Public Radio Dec. 26, 2006. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Further reading

Good Vibrations (episode #1556)

Asthenosphere, a geologist’s term for the molten layer beneath the earth’s crust, sparks a journey that stretches all the way from ancient Greece to the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Plus: What the heck is a dogberg? It’s when...

Cabin Fever (episode #1547)

The adjectives canine and feline refer to dogs and cats. But how does English address other groups of animals? Plus, cabin fever has been around much longer than the current pandemic. That restless, antsy, stir-crazy feeling goes back to the days...

Recent posts