Ate the Spoon: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

You got some kind of potion/brew/chili/what have you and you need to show that it is extremely strong; what to do? Well, the stirring spoon looks normal, until you take it out and discover that it has physically deformed, if not dissolved altogether, due to contact with the mysterious substance.

 

{{examples}}

== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==

* ''[[Slayers]]'' had a scene where a brew was being made to cure Lina's anti-magic curse. Of ''course'' it Ate the Spoon.

 

* In [[Don Rosa]]'s [[Scrooge McDuck]] story "The Black Knight", after [[Arsène Lupin|gentleman thief Arpin Lusense]] attempts to steal all of Scrooge's money, he ends up stealing a jar of universal solvent (from [[Continuity Nod|another Don Rosa story]], that eats everything except diamonds), not knowing what it is. He stirs it with a spoon while drinking his tea, and notices what it is. He proceeds to coat a suit of armor he stole from the money bin with it. After adding a layer of diamond dust to it.

* In ''[[Leonard Le Genie]]'', the titular [[Mad Scientist]] uses a brush to apply one of his concoctions to his assistant Basile. After the stuff burns all the brush's hairs off, he remarks in surprise that "This is a whole other brush than the one I started with".

* ''[[Gaston Lagaffe]]'' once made [[Blazing Inferno Hellfire Sauce|a hot sauce that burned through the bottom of the cup he kept it in]]. He later discovered that it was alive.

 

* In ''[[Asterix|Asterix and Cleopatra]]'', Artifis tries to frame the Gauls by ([[Villain Song|musically!]]) making a poisoned cake and sending it to the Queen in the Gaul's name. As he makes the "Special Iced Arsenic Cake" of a variety of toxic materials (And strangely, no eggs or flour, or indeed any non-toxic materials other than orange juice), the spoon he was stirring the mixture with dissolves. And that happened ''before'' he added the sulfuric acid.

** His expression as this happens makes it even more funny: He's first surprised, before grinning at the mixing bowl.

* Happens in ''[[Nine to Five]]'', when Violet (Lily Tomlin) fantasizes about putting poison in her "sexist egotistical lying hypocritical bigot" boss's coffee (which she accidentally does later on in the film).

 

== [[Literature]] ==

* In the ''[[Discworld]]'' series, the recurring [[Gargle Blaster]], Scumble, is often mentioned with cautionary tales about its treatment of spoons. Sometimes the spoon gets a good cleaning but the spoon had better not be metal.

 

* In the first episode of ''[[Three's Company]]'', Janet talks about the awful punch that Chrissy made at the party the night before, which got her insanely drunk...and turned the ladle green.

* One episode of ''[[Candid Camera]]'' had a segment revolving around this trope, in which people were offered people a spoon with a cup of coffee. The spoon was made of something whose melting temperature was below the temperature of the coffee.

* In one episode of [[Gilligan's Island]] the professor is cooking up a batch of sulphuric acid to use to purify the rubber from the rubber trees. Gilligan finds the kettle bubbling and assumes it's soup. He tries to ladel some into his mouth, and burns up the ends of two spoons in the process. Then he hits upon the idea of using [[Too Stupid to Live|a cup]]...

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

'''Gretchen''': No. I mean if you let it age, it can burn a hole through a concrete floor.

'''Vince''': (Inserts spoon into Tomato Surprise and it dissolves) It doesn't have too far to go. }}

* Happens a few times in ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures]]'' as a shout out to their predecessors.

* Happens once in the [[Tom and Jerry]] cartoon ''Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Mouse''. To put Jerry out of the way permanently, Tom pours a variety of toxic chemicals into his milk. He spins the brew with a spoon, but the poisonous chemicals caused the spoon to melt, with the melted part falling into the toxic milk.

** [[Fridge Brilliance|Brilliantly]], once the potion wears off, Jerry later remakes the concoction in order to renew his strength, but he doesn't let the tip of the melted spoon fall into it like Tom did. This omission manages to change the potion so that when Tom steals it and drinks it, it ''shrinks'' him instead of buffing him up, leading to Jerry winning the day.

* The ''[[Fanboy and Chum Chum]]'' episode ''Little Glop of Horrors''. The titular glop served by the new lunch lady was so awful that the utensil used by one of the students dissolves.

* In ''[[The Smurfs (animation)|The Smurfs]]'' episode "The Fake Smurf", the formula Hogatha creates for changing herself into a Smurf causes the spoon she mixes it with to dissolve.

 

* This can happen if the dishes are extremely hot and the spoons are biodegradable (plastic). [[Captain Obvious|It's generally a bad idea to eat the stuff afterwards, though.]]

** This isn't limited to biodegradable plastics. Very cheap non-biodegradable plastic spoons may not dissolve, but they can definitely soften and distort in near-boiling beverages (i.e., coffee, cocoa, etc.).

* A variant - Some peppers can eat through surgical gloves if they're spicy enough. Keep in mind people still ''eat'' [[Gargle Blaster|the stuff.]]

* Gallium is a metal that melts at around 86 degrees Fahrenheit (30 degrees Celsius). If you can make a spoon out of it, serve someone a hot drink with said spoon.

*** Bismuth and tin are non-toxic. Lead and cadmium on the other hand...

** Gallium spoon will melt in user's hands (staining them gray, BTW, because liquid gallium, unlike mercury, ''wets'' skin and glass). Fortunately, gallium is non-toxic.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Comedy Tropes]]

[[Category:Food Tropes]]