The
English language expression silver spoon is synonymous with wealth, especially
inherited wealth; someone born into a wealthy family is said to have "been born with a silver spoon in their mouth". As an adjective, "silver spoon" describes someone who has a prosperous background or is of a well-to-do family environment, often with the
connotation
A connotation is a commonly understood cultural or emotional association that any given word or phrase carries, in addition to its explicit or literal meaning, which is its denotation.
A connotation is frequently described as either positive ...
that the person does not fully realize or appreciate the value of his or her advantage, its having been inherited rather than earned.
Historical uses
Before the
place setting
Table setting (laying a table) or place setting refers to the way to set a table with tableware—such as eating utensils and for serving and eating. The arrangement for a single diner is called a place setting. It is also the layout in which t ...
became popular around the 18th century, people brought their own spoons to the table, carrying them in the same way that people today carry wallet and keys. In pre-modern times, ownership of a silver spoon was an indication of social class, denoting membership in the land-owning classes. In the Middle Ages, when farmers and craftsmen worked long hours and frequently got dirt under their fingernails, it was important to not be mistaken for a
serf
Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which develop ...
or escaped
slave
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to per ...
. Under these circumstances, a silver spoon served the functional equivalent of passport, driving license, and credit card. Since most members of the land-owning classes were
smallhold farmers and craftsmen, the silver spoon was primarily a lower-middle-class cultural marker.
History in print
The phrase "born with a silver spoon in his mouth" appeared in print in English as early as 1719, in
Peter Anthony Motteux
Peter Anthony Motteux (born Pierre Antoine Motteux ; 25 February 1663 – 18 February 1718) was a French-born English author, playwright, and translator. Motteux was a significant figure in the evolution of English journalism in his era, as the ...
's translation of the novel ''
Don Quixote
is a Spanish epic novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615, its full title is ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'' or, in Spanish, (changing in Part 2 to ). A founding work of Weste ...
'': "Mum, Teresa, quoth Sancho, 'tis not all Gold that glisters
ic and every Man was not born with a Silver Spoon in his Mouth." Because the phrase is used as a translation of a Spanish proverb with a different literal meaning ( es, muchas veces donde hay estacas no hay tocinos, literally: "often where there are hooks
or hanging hamsthere are no hams"), it seems that the phrase was already considered proverbial in English at the time.
The phrase next appears in a book of Scottish proverbs published in 1721, in the form "Every Man is no born with a Silver Spoon in his Mouth."
Variants
There are similar expressions in other languages. For example, in
Portuguese and
Spanish, an expression translated as "born in a gold cradle" is equivalent to the English, "born with a silver spoon".
The term "gold spoon" is much less commonly used, but finds occasional use, such as the 1840 American
Gold Spoon Oration criticizing then-president
Martin Van Buren
Martin Van Buren ( ; nl, Maarten van Buren; ; December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was an American lawyer and statesman who served as the eighth president of the United States from 1837 to 1841. A primary founder of the Democratic Party, he ...
for his supposedly luxurious lifestyle. In some languages, like
Swedish and
Finnish, the common expression is gold spoon rather than silver spoon, although both can be used.
"
Silver fork novels" are described by English professor Paola Brunetti to her husband Guido, in
Donna Leon's fourth
Commissario Guido Brunetti novel ''Death and Judgment'' aka ''A Venetian Reckoning'' (1995), chapter 22, as "books written in the eighteenth century, when all that money poured into England from the colonies, and the fat wives of Yorkshire weavers had to be taught which fork to use".
See also
*
Apostle spoon
*
Cignus
*
Cochlearium
*
Silver lining (idiom)
*
Silver tongue
*
Born in the purple
Traditionally, born in the purple (sometimes "born to the purple") was a category of members of royal families born during the reign of their parent. This notion was later loosely expanded to include all children born of prominent or high-ranking ...
*
Spoon class theory
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Silver Spoon
English-language idioms
Spoons
Wealth concentration