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Napkin in your lap, elbows off the table and chew with your mouth closed.
That's all I got.
I'll add - use the salad fork to scratch your scalp, not the dinner fork. (j/k)
This actually happened on a cruise I was on back in the day, from Montreal to London (Tilbury). The gentleman seated across from me lifted his fork up to his head and used it to scratch an itch on his scalp.
I typically don't focus on people's dining habits and etiquette, I stay in my lane unless something truly unusual happens.
I'll add - use the salad fork to scratch your scalp, not the dinner fork. (j/k)
This actually happened on a cruise I was on back in the day, from Montreal to London (Tilbury). The gentleman seated across from me lifted his fork up to his head and used it to scratch an itch on his scalp.
I typically don't focus on people's dining habits and etiquette, I stay in my lane unless something truly unusual happens.
Who taught you your table manners? When? Where do you live? Comment on anything worth mentioning.
I thought of this when I saw Martha Keller (Swiss) eating with her right hand in "Marathon Man". American actors always fork-left, which I think of as a very annoying New York affectation.
As a coutry-kitchen child, the rule was Don't be a pig. A South African GF taught me the niceties when I was 30. At 50, a German GF was disgusted by my non-German-ness, as they tend to be,
Now it's fork right, knife left.
Huh? I'm from NY. I am a right handed fork user. I'm right handed. Has nothing to do with NY. Has to do with being right handed.
I just ate some ramen noodles, tines up, fork in right hand, no chop sticks, no slurping. But hey, I'm in the USA so it's all good! Whew, I was so worried (that's sarcasm, folks).
Then, because I was eating in the privacy of my own home, in my living room and not at the table, and not in a "fine dining restaurant" and with no guests present, I turned the bowl up and drank the rest of the soup. It was delicious.
I might even do that if someone was over - just depends.
British and Europeans tend to use the fork in the left hand and the knife in the right hand, and cut their food and places on the fork as they eat.
This is different to some Americans who cut their food up and then use a fork in their right hand to consume the food.
This is not considered good manners in Europe, especially in fine dining establishments.
My stepfather (whom I miss) went from Denmark to the US to train on IBM equipment (punched cards, magnetic core memory era) in the 1950s. This was when crossing the Atlantic was a Pretty Big Deal and people were a good deal more insular. The "European table" in the cafeteria took some good-natured ribbing about the left-hand-fork/no switching thing, until the day an exasperated Brit sat down and said, with his very proper accent: "Oh very well, we may as well eat like the savages!" and started to cut his food up.
Last edited by Dane_in_LA; 08-06-2021 at 12:46 PM..
I just ate some ramen noodles, tines up, fork in right hand, no chop sticks, no slurping. But hey, I'm in the USA so it's all good! Whew, I was so worried (that's sarcasm, folks).
Then, because I was eating in the privacy of my own home, in my living room and not at the table, and not in a "fine dining restaurant" and with no guests present, I turned the bowl up and drank the rest of the soup. It was delicious.
I might even do that if someone was over - just depends.
That's the thing with etiquette - it's supposed to be a tool for making social interaction more pleasant, not a game where you watch each other for flaws and award demerits.
I would only trust using my dominant hand/arm (right) for cutting and welding a knife. I don't might handing off the fork to the left momentarily to hold the object while using the stronger arm for cutting.
But why not just keep the fork in your left hand when in two-utensil mode? That's the part I don't get.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KathrynAragon
By the way, if you have to eat with fork tines down, how do you eat peas without mashing them onto the fork?
This thread strikes me as a conversation happening in a world where spoons are a rare, precious commodity.
This thread strikes me as a conversation happening in a world where spoons are a rare, precious commodity.
I agree totally. Oops, you just introduced a THIRD utensil. OMG what are we to do? LOL
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