Talk:Greasy spoon

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Food and drink: Foodservice / Breakfast Mid‑importance

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word origin date

First off, the reference used says 1906. The American Heritage Idioms Dictionary says "1900s". Other sources say 1925 or thereabouts. None present an actual source or reference.

Therefore I made our claim less exact. CapnZapp (talk) 18:16, 2 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

USA

Why is this srticle so Americocentric? Greasy Spoons (and the expression) , especially in small town inner suburbs were perfectly common in the UK when I was a kid (and still are) and I'm 70 now. They were also commonplace as truck-stops on trunk roads before the motorway system was fully developed. Classic examples are the caffs in the 'Spam' sketch by Monty Python, and the various small eateries during the history of the UK soap Coronation Street. Traditional staples were sausage, eggs, beans, and in contract to US burgers, spam fritters (spam in batter) were not uncommon. washed down with a mug of tea. Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk) 23:15, 20 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Earlier reference to the term

An earlier reference in print was made in Les Miserable by Victor Hugo (1862). “Being evil is not enough for a person to prosper. The greasy spoon was doing badly”. 2A02:C7E:128B:7600:A979:D388:10F5:E891 (talk) 16:25, 4 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]

"this is known as a transport cafe in Britain"

Uhrm no, no it's not. 152.37.120.131 (talk) 11:30, 29 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Is there a particular name in Britain that would match this? If so, do you have a reliable source that states that? cheers. anastrophe, an editor he is. 00:48, 1 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Nonsensical revision

I changed 'small privately-owned eatery' to simply 'eatery', but it was changed back? Why? It makes absoluely no sense. A 'caff' is an eatery. Whether it's small or privately-owned is neither here nor there. 81.131.111.255 (talk) 04:58, 24 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Read the reference that's at the end of the sentence. It makes a distinction between the small, privately-owned establishments and the chain establishments like Starbucks. I also explained that in the edit summary. cheers. anastrophe, an editor he is. 05:29, 24 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Think of it this way: would you ever think of calling Starbucks a 'greasy spoon'? The article tenders that a greasy spoon and a caff are synonymous. cheers. anastrophe, an editor he is. 05:32, 24 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]