There's nothing worse than looking forward to a serving of Nutella on warm toast for breakfast - only to find that someone has cleaned out the jar.

    German inventor Daniel Schobloch has come up with a brilliantly simple solution to the pilfering problem - by designing an acrylic lock to keep jars of the chocolate and hazelnut spread safe from sticky fingers.

    The canny gadget, which started life as a joke invention, is currently on sale for 9.99 euros on eBay Germany.

    The simple lock is so popular that 1,000 units have been sold.

    The acrylic lock means that no one can open the jar without a key, which will stop late night snackers and early morning pilferers in their tracks.

    Schobloch, who works at Borkenkarger Furniture and Fittings, told Berlin-based The Local that his invention started life as a joke.

    He said, "One of my friends was always getting worked up because his children were always stealing his Nutella."

    But once news of his clever creation got out, the demand for the lock started to spread.

    "As the demand continued to grow we decided to offer the device on eBay," he said.

    The lock, which comes with two keys, should not be considered as a proper security device, as acrylic is easy to break into.

    Daniel told the The Local that the lock is best used as novelty gift or by parents who want to stop their children from gorging on the sweet spread.

    Barmy breakfast inventions seem to be all the rage recently with news of a British designer's bizarre Wearable Brek range, made especially for cereal fans.

    Dominic Wilcox's creations include a device which sets off an alarm if your cereal is too soggy, a crane that serves milk and cereal into your bowl, a cereal drone that flies Rice Krispies from shop counter to table and an e-Spoon that measures the mouthfuls of food as you eat.

    Words to Learn 相关词汇

    偷窃

    tōuqiè

    pilfer

    steal things that are not very valuable or steal a small amount of something

    小偷

    xiǎotōu

    sticky fingers

    a petty thief or petty thieves     

    搞笑发明防偷吃神器热卖

    本想在热乎乎的早餐面包片上涂点能多益，却发现不知谁把它吃光了，世间最痛苦的事情莫过于此。

    一位名叫丹尼尔·舍布洛赫尔的德国发明家想了个好点子，轻轻松松解决了偷吃的问题。他设计了一款亚克力锁头，锁住装榛子巧克力酱的罐子，别人就没法偷吃了。

    这个小玩意是个玩笑之作，现在花9.99欧元（约合72元人民币）便能在德国易贝网上买到。

    这款简易锁成了网购热门产品，目前已售出1000件。

    装上这款锁头，那就必须用钥匙才能打开食物罐。如此一来，喜欢晚上来点零食或一大早偷吃的小馋猫就只能望而却步了。

    丹尼尔在博肯卡格尔家居公司上班。他在接受柏林The Local采访时表示，当初发明这款锁，就是为了图个乐子。

    他说：“我有个朋友常常因为他的孩子偷吃能多益而生气。”

    不过他的发明经口耳相传之后，人们纷纷表示想要这样一把锁。

    他说：“想要锁的人越来越多，于是我们决定把它放到易贝上出售。”

    这款锁配有两把钥匙，但并不能算是合格的安全装置。因为它由亚克力制成，很容易被撬开。

    丹尼尔告诉The Local，这种锁适合作为新奇的礼物或是家长用来防止孩子吃太多甜酱的工具。

    近来，这类古怪的早餐发明好像比比皆是。有报道称，英国的一位设计师也发明了一套奇特的穿戴式早餐助手，专为麦片粥爱好者打造。

    多米尼克·威尔科克斯的这项设计包括了一个“警报器”，在麦片泡得过软时会发出警报；一部“起吊机”，将牛奶与麦片放入碗中；一架“谷物无人机”，为你从商店柜台将卜卜米送至桌前；最后是一柄“电子匙”，能测量你吃下每一口的食物量。