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Dictionary of Phrase and Fable—S

Spoke

(verb). When members of the House of Commons and other debaters call out Spoke, they mean that the person who gets up to address the assembly has spoken already, and cannot speak again except in explanation of something imperfectly understood.

Spoke

(noun). I have put my spoke into his wheel. I have shut him up. The allusion is to the pin or spoke used to lock wheels in machinery

Don't put your spoke into my wheel.
Don't interfere with my business; Let my wheel turn, and don't you put a pin in to stop it or interrupt its movement. The Dutch have “Een spaak in t'wiel stecken, ” to thwart a purpose.

When solid wheels were used, the driver was provided with a pin or spoke, which he thrust into one of the three holes made to receive it, to skid the cart when it went down-hill. The carts used by railway navvies, and tram-waggons used in collieries, still have a wheel “spoked” in order to skid it.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
Sponge
Splice the Main Brace
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