Talk:Greasy spoon

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)

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)

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)