Always getting out a fresh teaspoon for every cup of tea or coffee you make

You could be on to something here – an explanation of the definitive quot which is that ‘There is always a teaspoon in the bottom of the washing up water when you throw it away’, which many quotspotters have sent in. AND the one about washing up generally which is ‘ The number of plates, glasses, knives, forks, and spoons etc is always well in excess of and out of all proportion to the number of people fed or courses eaten’. At least it explains the teaspoon bit and their accumulation all over your kitchen worktop throughout the day. We are extravagant in our use of teaspoons not just because they are smaller than other cutlery and more defenceless for lack of sharp edges but more because in the outside world beverage stirrers are generally one-use-only disposables – namely those flimsy plastic dipsticks you get at McDonalds and the wooden throat spatulas they give you at Starbucks as if they think you should be providing a DNA sample while you’re about it. As a result the habit of stirring and lobbing all in one deft movement has become second nature.

(Magnus Combover, Bridlington) - QQQ**