Re: Talking about horses...

On Tue, 1 May 2007 15:27:45 +0100, Jonathan L Cunningham wrote:

James Eades <jeeades@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Sat, 28 Apr 2007 16:35:28 +0100, spam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
(Jonathan L Cunningham) wrote:

Andrew Stephenson <ames@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

In article <r45533h5bn0fuajk4ji9b8br120q5e7u0b@xxxxxxx>
john@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx "John F. Eldredge" writes:

I would doubt that pure gold or pure silver would ever be used
for tableware, unless you were talking about display pieces not
intended for actual use. [...]

I've been quietly assuming that everyone who has written of Au/Ag
being used for cutlery has meant "for unstressed parts". All the
cutlery which I can recall seeing, incorporating precious metals,
used them in parts like handles. Blades, tines and so forth were
of metals such as steel. In use they must feel oddly unbalanced.

I've got some solid silver forks. I think my mother bought them second
hand shortly after my parents married. The family used them for years.
The tines are noticeably worn down.

The matching knives (if they matched) were silver plate (EPNS). I think
the spoons we used at the time didn't match, and were "German silver".

[Wikipedia] Hmm. Looks like German silver was a typical base for
silver plating, so maybe the spoons were the same construction as the
knives. I haven't kept spoons or knives, so can't check.

I kept the forks because they *are* solid (with proper hallmarks).
They're probably not worth anything more than their scrap metal value,
which won't be a lot, but they would be useful against an attack by
werewolves.

Which raises a question I don't think I've seen a definite answer to:
can you kill a werewolf with silver plate, or do you have to use solid
silver?

Jonathan

I suppose if you whack him hard enough across the snout with a silver
plate... Oh, you mean 'silver-plated...' Nevermind.

I think there's a difference between silver plate things and silver
plated things. Silver plate is a stuff (like butter, or bread) whereas
silver plated is a property like (like shiny or edible).

"Silver" can be either a stuff (a metal) or a property (a colour).
Normally a thing made of silver is also coloured silver.

But what I'm not sure about is whether the stuff called silver plate is
always made by a process of silver plating something (so the thing can
accurately described as silver plated) or whether there are other ways
of making silver plate.

IOW, is all silver plate silver plated?

Jonathan

No. Calling dishware and cutlery "plate" comes from Spanish "plata" =
"silver". When a Victorian or earlier talks about "the plate" he means
solid silver stuff.

Silver being highly conductive, it is also relatively easy to electroplate,
so use of the word "plate" to mean a coating deposited by electrochemical
means /also/ derives from the same source. Handy for people who care to
misrepresent the composition of what they're selling. The distinction
between "plate" and "plated" is larger than a verb ending.

Regards,
Ric

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