When spoonys on two knees, implore the aid of sorcery,
To suit their wicked purposes they quickly put the laws awry.
Rejected Addresses, Am. ed., p. 154.
They belong to the class of elderly "spoons," with some few exceptions, and are nettled that the world should not go at their rate of progression.—Boston Daily Times, May 8, 1851.
SPOONY, SPOONEY. Like a spoon; possessing the qualities of a silly or stupid fellow.
I shall escape from this beautiful critter, for I'm gettin' spooney, and shall talk silly presently.—Sam Slick.
Both the adjective and the noun spooney are in constant and frequent use at some of the American colleges, and are generally applied to one who is disliked either for his bad qualities or for his ill-breeding, usually accompanied with the idea of weakness.
He sprees, is caught, rusticates, returns next year, mingles with feminines, and is consequently degraded into the spooney Junior. Yale Lit. Mag., Vol. XV. p. 208.
A "bowl" was the happy conveyance. Perhaps this was chosen because the voyagers were spooney.—Yale Banger, Nov. 1849.
SPOOPS, SPOOPSY. At Harvard College, a weak, silly fellow, or one who is disliked on account of his foolish actions, is called a spoops, or spoopsy. The meaning is nearly the same as that of spoony.
SPOOPSY. Foolish; silly. Applied either to a person or thing.
Seniors always try to be dignified. The term "spoopsey" in its widest signification applies admirably to them.—Yale Tomahawk, May, 1852.