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Hung up his spoon

Posted by Shae on May 20, 2004

In Reply to: Hung up his spoon posted by ESC on May 20, 2004

: : Can anyone help with the origin of this phrase, said when someone dies - 'He's hung up his spoon'.
: : Was it something to do with prisoners in hulks?

: This sounds familiar. I believe this phrase has been discussed but I can't find it in the archives. Anyone remember?

I thought we had discussed before too. I vaguely remember it having to do with serving food from a pot suspended over the fire. Each member of the household had their own spoon to ladle the food and, when they died, their spoon was nailed to the fireplace. Something along those lines, anyway.

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