A greasy spoon is a small, especially cheap, sometimes unsanitary, archetypal working-class restaurant or diner, that typically specialises in fried foods. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the colloquial term originated in the United States, and is now used in various English-speaking countries.
The name "greasy spoon" is used to imply a less-than-rigorous approach to hygiene and dishwashing, and appears in use in the early 20th century. The term greasy spoon has been used to refer to a "small cheap restaurant" since 1925.
Read more about Greasy Spoon: United States, United Kingdom
Famous quotes containing the words greasy and/or spoon:
“Sweep on, you fat and greasy citizens,
‘Tis just the fashion.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“by Spoon Rivergathering many a shell,
And many a flower and medicinal weed—
Shouting to the wooded hills, singing to the green valleys.
At ninety-six I had lived enough, that is all,
And passed to a sweet repose.”
—Edgar Lee Masters (1869–1950)