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xkcd #3075: Anachronym Challenge (xkcd.com)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/xkcd@lemmy.world
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I have to pay with paper money.

https://explainxkcd.com/3075/

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[–] 0 points 2 years ago (5 children)

Dumb foreigner here, so what’s the deal with silverware? I mean, if you really want silverware, you get forks and knives that are actually made of silver and come in a fancy wood box. Do people use that word for common steel forks too?

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  • [–] 0 points 2 years ago (4 children)

    Yeah, it's kind of a generic term for not just tableware, but damn near any utensil that isn't for cooking, like serving spoons, ladles and the like.

    Actual silver silverware is just expensive is all. So you aren't going to run to a big box store find it, so a lot of people don't even realize it's out there. Tbh, the way brick and mortar places have been priced out or otherwise failed, you often have to go to a decent sized city to find real silver cutlery and tableware, but when I was growing up some of the department stores still carried it.

    Hell, at the lower end of the income scale, steel utensils can be pricey to afford. You end up with some pretty crappy alloy parts with plastic handles. It might technically be steel, but it's such a low grade it falls apart under use.

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  • [–] 0 points 2 years ago (3 children)

    Yeah, that’s t true. Even steel utensils come in a variety of prices. The nicer ones look cool, have interesting shapes are heavy etc. Moderately priced ones are just stamped steel, but still good and durable. The cheap ones, are stamped out of the thinnest low grade trash you can find. Those will bend if you just look at them wrong. Also, some cheap fruit knives have a plastic handle and aluminum rivets. Stick that into a washing machine and you’ll find out how soluble aluminum is at high pH.

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  • [–] 2 points 5 months ago (2 children)

    I don't recommend putting any tableware into a washing machine.

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  • [–] 2 points 5 months ago* (1 child)

    How about normal steel forks and such? They should be fine.

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  • [–] 2 points 5 months ago

    When they grind down rocks (clothes), they put them in a really big drum (washing machine) and add ball bearings (stainless steel silverware). Even though the ball bearings (stainless) is much harder, it will exit the drum ground smooth and to a fraction of its original size. The drum itself is protected due to the stuff being thrown on itself (requires adequate clothes for dampening).

    You will certainly loose any coatings and your knifes and forks (and sporks) will be dull. You might after many runs loose the fork tooths entirely, and your sporks might become spoons. You will also either need to sacrifice your old shirts to the silverware gods, or need to order a few replacement drums and change early before the silverware breaches containment and explores the electric and pump sections of your washer.

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