# I could eat you with a spoon



## ARGMAN

It is an endearment phrase I believe.

Is it a common idiom or phrase?

But what does it imply?


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## perpend

Hmmm ... what is the context and/or source, Argman?


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## ARGMAN

*Friends Sitcom Season 2 Eps. 21

Joey: Aww, Rach, I think you look cute (kisses her on the cheek, then looks at Ross "her boyfriend") And you, uh, you, you I could eat with a spoon (goes to kiss him).

(Joey is trying to get a kiss from Ross as a practice for his new role (he's an actor) as a homosexual man)

**Ross: Get away from me I said no!*


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## clearly

I think in this context it means something like "you are so good, so sweet etc." that I could eat you. The "eating" is a metaphor... as eating brings pleasure, the same does "the boyfriend".


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## perpend

Thanks for some context, Argman. I think Joey was just trying to get into character for his role as a gay/homosexual man. So he was messing with Ross.

"I could eat you with a spoon" is sort of *campy*, and could be heard in certain gay circles. It's playful gay banter.


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## dadane

The analogy is: 'You are as delicious as dessert'. It is equally applicable heterosexually, in BE.


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## perpend

dadane said:


> The analogy is: 'You are as delicious as dessert'. It is equally applicable heterosexually, in BE.



Hmmm ... no, I think in the Friends script, this is deliberately campy. Gays would never say "You are as delicious as dessert", trust me. Way too boring.


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## dadane

I would never say 'you are as delicious as desert' either, that is way too campy for me. I was just trying to explain the underlying meaning. I didn't realise it was from 'Friends', that explains all. The scriptwriters often sneak in BE phrases which are innocent at face value. They also often use swear words which aren't on the US censorship list. The writers of CSI NY and Buffy The Vampire Slayer are the masters in this respect.


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## perpend

Hi, dadane! Argman gave/provided the context in #3.


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## dadane

Perp, you seem very sure so I'll accept your judgement on this one. It just doesn't have the same connotations in BE.


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## perpend

Oh gosh, "sure" is overrated. I just mean that Joey's character was trying to "gay it up" in the dialogue, thus, for me the expression. _Toodles, cupcake. _

I can use such speak because I've got a gay card. I can't be arrested by the gay police, unless I want to be.


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## Myridon

dadane said:


> Perp, you seem very sure so I'll accept your judgement on this one. It just doesn't have the same connotations in BE.


It doesn't have that connotation for anyone but Perpend as far as I know.  People say it about babies, etc.


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## perpend

ARGMAN said:


> *Friends Sitcom Season 2 Eps. 21
> 
> Joey: Aww, Rach, I think you look cute (kisses her on the cheek, then looks at Ross "her boyfriend") And you, uh, you, you I could eat with a spoon (goes to kiss him).
> 
> (Joey is trying to get a kiss from Ross as a practice for his new role (he's an actor) as a homosexual man)
> 
> **Ross: Get away from me I said no!*



No gay subtext, for you, Myridon?

I would not say that about an actual baby, for the record, nor would I say that to an actual baby.


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## Sparky Malarky

perpend said:


> I would not say that about an actual baby, for the record, nor would I say that to an actual baby.



I would.  

I'm not saying you're wrong about the gay subtext on Friends, I quite agree there, but "I would/could eat ___ with a spoon" is not an unusual construction.  It just means "I like this very much."  It's common to say a baby is "sweet enough to eat," or "so sweet I could eat you."  It's common to kiss a baby or small child and say "I'm getting your sugar."  But it's also common to say things like "Public television is showing a series on the Kennedy assassination.  I'm not interested, but my husband eats that up with a spoon."  

My point is that there's nothing gay in "I could eat you with a spoon."  But if one man says that to another man, well yes, of course that's gay.


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## ARGMAN

Sparky Malarky said:


> I would.
> 
> I'm not saying you're wrong about the gay subtext on Friends, I quite agree there, but "I would/could eat ___ with a spoon" is not an unusual construction.  It just means "I like this very much."  It's common to say a baby is "sweet enough to eat," or "so sweet I could eat you."  It's common to kiss a baby or small child and say "I'm getting your sugar."  But it's also common to say things like "Public television is showing a series on the Kennedy assassination.  I'm not interested, but my husband eats that up with a spoon."
> 
> My point is that there's nothing gay in "I could eat you with a spoon."  But if one man says that to another man, well yes, of course that's gay.



I somehow lean to this perspective. However, what is the use of "with a spoon" in the sentence? Could it not be only "I could eat you"? That would serve the meaning as well. So I guess that "with a spoon" connotes that the thing/person is so tiny or cute and delicious, regardless of the sexual status or age.


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## ewie

ARGMAN said:


> So I guess that "with a spoon" connotes that the thing/person is so tiny or cute and delicious, regardless of the sexual status or age.


 Spoons are, for some obscure and weird Anglo-Saxon reason, _cute_.  Perhaps because the first piece of cutlery our babies face is typically a spoon ... they're the most 'infantile' cutlery item: you just scoop stuff up and shove it in


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## Beryl from Northallerton

ARGMAN said:


> So I guess that "with a spoon" connotes that the  thing/person is so tiny or cute and delicious, regardless of the sexual  status or age.



I think it connotes a range of foods that are soft, unyielding, and therefore lend themselves to being eaten with a spoon.

Spoons are also the safest and easiest to use of the cutlery trinity.


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## bennymix

I agree with Sparky and Myridon:  The *expression* is widely applicable.    In the OP's example, of guy saying it to guy, obviously it's gay and 'over the top.'   As Argman suggests, there is an implication, as to 'spoon' that the item/person might be small, or affectionately talked about as small, like a little bowl of tasty pudding.


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## Giorgio Spizzi

Yes, Sparky, babies are so sweet you could eat them. 
It's when they're adults that you regret not doing/having done it. 
GS


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## Beryl from Northallerton

I don't think you could eat a baby with a spoon.


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## perpend

There are premies (sp.?), or premature babies that you could eat with a soup spoon. (I once had a friend who worked with prematurely born babies.) Eww, right?


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## ewie

Right...........


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## dadane

But surely that would be an appetiser, not dessert.  I think a pastry fork would be more appropriate.

Seriously, perpend, it is an normal expression used by persons of all orientations.


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## perpend

Sounds odd to me in American English, for the record. I'd say to a baby: _You are so nummy. / You are nummalicious._

Spoons to eat something takes it to a different level, for me.

Anyspoon, we all have our ways across the English spectrum of expression.


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## dadane

I have never heard the word 'nummy'. I am familiar with 'Yummy-mummy', which is off topic but isn't, if you know what I mean.  I have to agree with you to a point, I personally would never say the "spoon thing" to a baby, I consider a bit too sexual.


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## ARGMAN

Sure thing is that it is a metaphor, you cannot debate about whether the baby is edible in the first place.

The thing is whether the expression imitates an imaginary scenario of actual eating (experience) and actually has origin OR it is just as cute as it seems.

The other thing is whether it is used in a sexual, lovely or cherishing manner (That's where the conflict is, although I thought it would be an unanimous thing for English natives!)


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## Beryl from Northallerton

>> The thing is whether the expression imitates an imaginary scenario of  actual eating (experience) and actually has origin OR it is just as cute  as it seems.

I think the expression 'you're so good I could eat you' (and similar) has its origins in a kind of synaesthesia that's engaged in women who are apt to feel and say such things when in the presence of babies. 

Babies are cute, and so women falling in love with them and getting gooey around them becomes cute by extension. 

I imagine that the spoon gets in there by a further extension. (It's quite easy to associate spoons with babies)

>> The other thing is whether it is used in a sexual, lovely or cherishing manner

Certainly. Sexual love can provoke a similar confusion of the appetites, and of the senses. I would simply say that if you want to eat your lover with a spoon, you might be a little too well house-trained.


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## bennymix

Nice comments, Beryl!


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## ARGMAN

Agreed Beryl!

To add to that, in some of the cooking receipts website (specifically in a flan receipt) the dude there wrote about it and somehow I deem it very convincing:

That affectionate phrase has always enchanted me, partly because I’ve never heard it lavished upon me personally. It implies some essential, personal deliciousness, innate sweetness, utter adorability; who wouldn’t want to be spoon-edible? (If you’re the person who rather aspires to be picked up and chomped on, sparerib-style, I might have something for you next week.)
Moreover, the things we want to eat with a spoon are soft, tender, yielding, or a little elusive–things we don’t want to miss a drop of, morsels deserving of the gentle utensil’s caress.


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## bearded

Beryl from Northallerton said:


> I think it connotes a range of foods that are soft, unyielding, and hence lend themselves to being eaten with a spoon.
> 
> Spoons are also the safest and easiest to use of the cutlery trinity.


Shouldn't soft food be yielding rather than unyielding ?


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## bennymix

I think she meant 'unresisting.'    Good point, bearded.


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## Beryl from Northallerton

bearded man said:


> Shouldn't soft food be yielding rather than unyielding ?



Yes, of course it should. Where did that come from, I wonder? I'll go back and change it.


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## Parla

I completely agree with Perpend that there's a sexual connotation in this instance.


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## ARGMAN

If there is no unanimous agreement on it here, how could it be an expression or idiom, shouldn't the idioms have one obvious meaning?


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## Loob

ARGMAN said:


> If there is no unanimous agreement on it here, how could it be an expression or idiom, shouldn't the idioms have one obvious meaning?


I think there _is_ a common meaning, Argman: "I could eat you with a spoon" = "You're gorgeous"


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## PaulQ

I agree with Loob.


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## ARGMAN

Ummm, I'll say!


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## perpend

ARGMAN said:


> If there is no unanimous agreement on it here, how could it be an expression or idiom, shouldn't the idioms have one obvious meaning?



It's clear that people think that the expression "I could eat you with a spoon" can mean both:
1) You're so sweet (to a baby, for example, in a non-sexual way).
2) I'm attracted to you in a sexual way (this is your context from the Friends episode).

As mentioned, there are other equally ambiguous expressions (I would use "You're yummy", and not "Ummm", for what it's worth).

Back to your point, though. Idioms do not necessarily have one meaning. That's why context is very valuable. When we observe the situation/context in which an idiom is being used, the meaning becomes more clear.

And, I hope that was clear!


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## ARGMAN

It is clear and I agree. But the expression itself -in my opinion- should has originally two meanings to require the context as further assistant.

I mean if it has originally one meaning you wouldn't consider the context, would you?


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## dadane

ARGMAN said:


> I mean if it has originally one meaning you wouldn't consider the context, would you?


Most idioms develop organically. It is perfectly natural for them to have different connotations in different places or subcultures. This doesn't usually alter the underlying meaning but context IS critical.


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## ARGMAN

Aha, nice piece of information


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## rasputin1963

If you need a spoon to eat something,  it's because you want to savor every drop of that food.  Similarly,   if you say,  "My toddler nephew and niece will eat this MOWGLI movie up with a spoon.",  it means they will _*savor every detail of that movie,  not wanting to miss a single thing within it.*_   The movie will not be watched cursorily;   rather,  the kids will pore over every detail of the movie,  because it engrosses and pleases them so much.  

This phrase is by no means  a recent construction,    and only by extension might have a sexual/romantic connotation.


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## london calling

I was thinking more along the lines of what we now call 'spoon desserts' (a calque from the original Italian) in English. This kind of thing:

Tiramisù:







Panna cotta:






(Blackberry) Eton Mess:


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## bennymix

It's simply comparing the loved or sexy one to a fine dessert:    See London above.


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