Wooden Spoon to Wooden Head?
Jenny Lee
6 Dec.2006
To win an award is always great when it is given to us for being first. However, there is also a meaningful award given to a loser called the "Wooden Spoon Award". I had that experience recently when my team won the Wooden Spoon Award at the game night.
How did the custom of awarding a wooden spoon to a losing competitor originate?
The Oxford English Dictionary comes to the rescue with the answer:
;a spoon made of wood; spec. one presented by custom at Cambridge to the last of the Junior Optimes, i.e. the lowest of these taking honours in the Mathematical Tripos; hence, this position in the examination, or the person who takes it. Also in extended use, referring to the lowest of a list or set in other connections.
Having lived in a winner-take-all society like Korea, the Wooden Spoon Award is new to most Asian people including myself. I found this aspect of British life interesting where competing is as important as winning. The Asian attitude is winning is what is important.
I’d like to attribute the glory of winning the Wooden Spoon Award to my team members Deepa, Doris, Gemma, Tanu, Samuel, Coyel, Vivien! I could not have won it without them!
