spoonie

English

Etymology 1

Unknown. Possibly related to the phrase born with a silver spoon in one's mouth.

Noun

spoonie (plural spoonies)

1. (archaic) Alternative form of spoony (“foolish or silly person”)
   • 1821, Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine - Volume 9, page 445:

     I shall wander amid the ruins of ancient magnificence, and indulge my heart in melancholy musings! Pooh! do you think me such a spoonie?

   • 1825, William Hamilton Maxwell, O'Hara: Or, 1798, page 96:

     Jonathan Oldskirt is a twaddling spoonie.

   • 1847, Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre:

     In short, I began the process of ruining myself in the received style; like any other spoonie. I had not, it seems, the originality to chalk out a new road to shame and destruction, but trode the old track with stupid exactness not to deviate an inch from the beaten centre.

   • 1861, Sir James Ranald Martin, The influence of tropical climates on European constitutions:

     The truth is, that many persons puff themselves into the good graces of snobs and spoonies like themselves, and use cigars by the score now, as Lord Chesterfield drank and smoked in his time, notwithstanding his aversion to wine and tobacco— “because he thought such practices very genteel, and made him look like a man.”

Etymology 2

Spatula clypeata, formerly Anas clypeata (spoonie)

From the spatulate shape of the bill.

Noun

spoonie (plural spoonies)

1. A northern shoveler (Spatula clypeata, formerly Anas clypeata).
   • 1911, Western Field: The Sportsman's Magazine of the West:

     Every time a spoonie would alight within 400 yards of "Uncle George" he would proceed to stalk that spoonie with as much care as if it were a ten-point buck.

   • 1994, WETT, Waterfowl Environments Today and Tomorrow, page 21:

     The Northern shoveler, or ”spoonie,” as he is commonly called, has a bill like no other species of North American duck.

   • 2004, Terry Grosz, The Thin Green Line: Outwitting Poachers, Smugglers, and Market Hunters, →ISBN, page 55:

     And I would bet a month's salary that if I were to drag that pond, I would find a mess of spoonies stomped into the mud, not to mention the one tossed into the weeds at the pond's edge.

   • 2013, Hank Shaw, Duck, Duck, Goose: Recipes and Techniques for Cooking Ducks and Geese, both Wild and Domesticated, →ISBN:

     Only in rice fields will spoonies put on clean fat and taste good; we call them “white spoonies” because their normally orange fat will turn white.

Etymology 3

From spoon (“unit of limited personal energy”) +‎ -ie. See spoon theory.

Noun

spoonie (plural spoonies)

1. (slang, chiefly Internet slang) A person with a chronic illness or disability.
   • 2013 June 21, “Explaining low stamina levels - with spoons”, in BBC News:

     And if spoonies use up more energy than they really have, and get excessively exhausted as a result, it's known as getting into "spoon deficit".

   • 2017 July 31, Cassie Werber, “Spoons have become a powerful symbol of people’s invisible pain”, in Quartz:

     People who identified with Miserandino’s metaphor began to self-identify as “spoonies,” seeking support and connection with other sufferers online.

   • 2018 January 14, Liza Zoellick, “Chronic Pain – A Family Story”, in National Pain Report:

     There are a lot of young spoonies out there and many who feel a little lost and a little alone as they try to navigate this chronic world they are now in.

   • 2018 March 7, Wendy Henderson, “15 Signs That Confirm You're Definitely a Spoonie”, in Fibromyalgia News Today:

     We’ve scoured the Internet for some examples of what it’s like to be a spoonie and how it affects everyday life.