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There are two main views on how the potato earned the nickname 'spud'. One view is that it came from a group of the 19th Century named “The Society for the Prevention of an Unwholesome Diet”. The wheat growers formed this group to protect their livelihood and advocated against eating potatoes. It has been speculated that the acronym for this group, SPUD, became the nickname of the humble spud. Historians have argued that this is most likely incorrect, as although sometimes written in the 19th Century, acronyms were not often spoken. 

The other view for the nickname is from the tool used to dig potatoes up. This was often called a ‘spuddle’, mostly likely from the Danish ‘spyd' for spear. The tool was a metal blade with a curved end on a long pole for easy moveability.

Photo by Carlos Felipe Ramírez Mesa on Unsplash

​A common tool for harvesting truffles is the Vanghetti, Vanghetta or Vangetto. It is a small hand-held tool with a steel blade used to gently dig around the truffle, clearing the soil to extract it with minimal damage. The vanghetti is documented as being created by Giuliano Vanghetti, an Italian country doctor and then naval surgeon. Born in 1861 and graduating with a medical degree in 1890, little is available on why or when he created the truffle spade. Giuliano Vanghetti is best known for the creation of cineplastic prostheses. Linking residual muscle and tendons to the moving parts of a prosthesis after amputation to enable movement.

The Vanghetti consists of a wooden handle and steel tip. The tip's style varies depending on the truffle variety being extracted, the terrain in which the truffle is and the user's preference.

There are at least twelve different variations of the tip, ranging from a flat blade to a blade with rounded edges to a spear shape. One has a hook on the top for gently scraping away soil, and another looks like a miniature shovel.