spoon theory

noun

spoon theory

noun

Etymology Coined by writer and disability advocate Christine Miserandino in a 2003 blog post recounting an incident in which she explained living with lupus to a friend in a diner by gathering spoons from other tables to serve as visual props for a metaphor.

1

An informal metaphor for chronic illness or disability that uses "spoons" to represent the finite units of physical and mental energy that a person has available for daily tasks.

Related terms
spoonie

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.