Holding a knife and fork properly

[dune]

I noticed a few years ago that when I eat in a restaurant here in the US people watch me eat. Not because I am holding the cutlery "Correctly" but because I use the knife and fork at the same time throughout the meal. I think it's considered some kind of super power here or something.

 

Using your brain to multifunction in the colonies is aspired to by many but achieved by few.

[Colinjb]

Using your brain to multifunction in the colonies is aspired to by many but achieved by few.

 

How old are you Dune?

[Smirking_Saint]

You'd never comment on it, but you'd notice it. Well I would anyway and the higher you go up the class system (it's there like it or not) the more important little details are in getting on.

 

TBF i know what hands to hold my Knife and Fork in, they tend to start in the right hands and then tend to move around to make eating my meal easier.

 

If that really makes me a bad person than so be it, however if that really does make me a bad person it makes that person harbouring that belief a snobbish c*nt.

[badgerx16]

If you're unwashed and scruffy it's an image.

And you are probably comfortable. Just because the accused in court might be wearing a suit and tie, doesn't stop him being a scrote.

[Mao Cap]

I believe this is the best way:

 

 

Phew, then I'm OK. Next time I'm in a classy joint like Nando's I'll know that the respectable folk aren't looking down on me.

 

Off for lunch now, MAO HUNGRY MAO WANT EAT

[anothersaintinsouthsea]

I noticed a few years ago that when I eat in a restaurant here in the US people watch me eat. Not because I am holding the cutlery "Correctly" but because I use the knife and fork at the same time throughout the meal. I think it's considered some kind of super power here or something.

 

The lack of style shown by Americans at the dinner table is amusing. With handle of the fork wrapped in the palm of their left hand they stab their food target and begin cutting. Upon finishing cutting they swap the fork into the right hand and scoop up the cut food as though using a spoon. I call it "the toddler method".

[Jillyanne]

TBF i know what hands to hold my Knife and Fork in, they tend to start in the right hands and then tend to move around to make eating my meal easier.

 

If that really makes me a bad person than so be it, however if that really does make me a bad person it makes that person harbouring that belief a snobbish c*nt.

 

I don't think I could eat with my fork in my left hand.

 

Btw Dune - do you eat Chinese with the correct 'utensils'?

[dune]

I don't think I could eat with my fork in my left hand.

 

Btw Dune - do you eat Chinese with the correct 'utensils'?

 

I don't eat foreign food.

[benjii]

But who is to say what's 'proper'? Why is it important?

 

I was taught how to hold a knife and fork properly by my mum, but I choose not to because it doesn't even register on my scale of importance what other people think of me when I'm eating. I consider it to be a load of old elitist nonsense that doesn't make a shred of difference to the world we live in.

 

Urgh, you brute.

 

I'm glad I don't know you.

[benjii]

Rubbish. Surely the correct way to hold a knife and fork is the most comfortable way for the individual. Please and Thank-you are good manners, holding cutlery is just all about personal preference.

 

Utter rubbish.

[anothersaintinsouthsea]

But who is to say what's 'proper'? Why is it important?

 

I was taught how to hold a knife and fork properly by my mum, but I choose not to because it doesn't even register on my scale of importance what other people think of me when I'm eating. I consider it to be a load of old elitist nonsense that doesn't make a shred of difference to the world we live in.

 

I'm not sure it is elitism, more looking like you are no longer a small child.

[Smirking_Saint]

I don't think I could eat with my fork in my left hand.

 

Btw Dune - do you eat Chinese with the correct 'utensils'?

 

I eat chinese with chop sticks yes.

[benjii]

Do you not see the absurdity of that though?

 

There is no absurdity at all.

 

You are saying: "I am the sort of person who will make an effort, who will fit your organisation. I have had a decent upbringing and am not a silly little jump-start with pompous delusions of trailblazing who will embarrass you in front of all you consider to be important."

[benjii]

Precisely. Saying image is nothing is ludicrous. Your image combined with your substance is what can make you stand out from others lacking in either area. I teach my own kids manners, how to use and hold their cutlery, as well as asking to leave the table. I hope one day they see how important that was to eat meals in a civilized manner, and pass this onto their own children.

 

Exactly.

 

Well done Boj.

[Sheaf Saint]

There is no absurdity at all.

 

You are saying: "I am the sort of person who will make an effort, who will fit your organisation. I have had a decent upbringing and am not a silly little jump-start with pompous delusions of trailblazing who will embarrass you in front of all you consider to be important."

 

Not what I am saying at all. Where I work at the moment we have no dress code. It is an IT-based environment so, as you can imagine, there are some proper sweaty geeks working here. Nobody in the management of the company considers an individual's personal appearance as having any bearing on their ability to do their job, as it should be.

 

Employing people, or judging people in any way, based on their appearance is completely irrational. I understand that it has become a huge part of modern society, but it is irrational nonetheless.

[ecuk268]

I don't eat foreign food.

 

You must have a very limited diet.

 

No coffee, tea, potatoes, pasta, pizza, rice, dairy products from Holstein cows, any spices, the list is endless.

[Smirking_Saint]

Not what I am saying at all. Where I work at the moment we have no dress code. It is an IT-based environment so, as you can imagine, there are some proper sweaty geeks working here. Nobody in the management of the company considers an individual's personal appearance as having any bearing on their ability to do their job, as it should be.

 

Employing people, or judging people in any way, based on their appearance is completely irrational. I understand that it has become a huge part of modern society, but it is irrational nonetheless.

 

Hmm i dunno, i don't really agree with that to the extent that you are taking it.

 

A person should not be judged as to which fashion etc he wishes to adhere to, nor should they be judged for hair colour, sexuality, tattoo's, piercings etc.

 

However if you have no respect for your own personal hygiene then how can i as a manager be expected to believe he will carry out his job with the respect it deserves ?

 

As far as a job interview is concerned then the whole point of it is to impress, you need to have a good image, show ability and suitability to the role and have a good personality. Job interviews are like some sort of tribal hierarchial struggle within which you need to prove you are better than your competitors.

[benjii]

Not what I am saying at all. Where I work at the moment we have no dress code. It is an IT-based environment so, as you can imagine, there are some proper sweaty geeks working here. Nobody in the management of the company considers an individual's personal appearance as having any bearing on their ability to do their job, as it should be.

 

Employing people, or judging people in any way, based on their appearance is completely irrational. I understand that it has become a huge part of modern society, but it is irrational nonetheless.

 

I have no difficulty imagining that at all.

 

Still no excuse for poor table manners though

 

And it's not necessarily irrational is it? Sometimes appearance will tell you a lot. It might, in certain circumstances, be rational to act on what it tells you and it others it might be rational to ignore what it tells you.

Edited 29 October, 2010 by benjii

[Thorpe-le-Saint]

You must have a very limited diet.

 

No coffee, tea, potatoes, pasta, pizza, rice, dairy products from Holstein cows, any spices, the list is endless.

 

You forgot that bastion of 'Britishness'; Tea!

[Jimmy_D]

I can project an image when I need to, dress up for a job interview etc.

 

But among the friends where I don't need to do this, where I can just be myself be accepted as just me, those are the friends I value most of all.

[Weston Super Saint]

Wrongly

 

Incorrectly

 

Besides, if you encountered some of the oiks that eat in my restaurant you would be crying out for table manners to be added to the national curriculum.

 

One mother - and I use the term loosely - announced at lunch time today 'oi mate, there's gonna be loadsa mess to clean up, when we's done', as if it were some kind of badge of honour to allow their kids to eat like little pigs.

[Jones91]

Is the formal way to eat like this....

 

Cut the food up, place knife at the top of your plate, switch the fork to you right hand and then eat the food (with mouth shut).

[Jones91]

obviously open your mouth to insert the food first

[Whitey Grandad]

Class has nothing to do with the style of eating, in my opinion.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eating_utensil_etiquette

[Dimond Geezer]

You forgot that bastion of 'Britishness'; Tea!

 

....and curry

[Whitey Grandad]

....and curry

 

So what are we left with? Swedes, turnips, oats. Potage? Even that's french.

[Colinjb]

So what are we left with? Swedes, turnips, oats. Potage? Even that's french.

 

Maybe food from 'The Colonies' is permitted?

[OttawaSaint]

If you go for a job you iron your shirt, polish your shoes, have a shave, groom your hair, make sure you nailes are cut and not dirty etc etc. Image is very important in getting on in life.

 

nails

[Whitey Grandad]

Maybe food from 'The Colonies' is permitted?

 

Good point. So long as they're 'ours'. I include the former colonials in 'us' of sourse.

[scotty]

I still dont see whats wrong with the good old-fashioned spoon and pusher.

[Ponty]

Precisely. Saying image is nothing is ludicrous. Your image combined with your substance is what can make you stand out from others lacking in either area.

You are aware that you have a goatee beard, aren't you?

[Smirking_Saint]

Incorrectly

 

Besides, if you encountered some of the oiks that eat in my restaurant you would be crying out for table manners to be added to the national curriculum.

 

One mother - and I use the term loosely - announced at lunch time today 'oi mate, there's gonna be loadsa mess to clean up, when we's done', as if it were some kind of badge of honour to allow their kids to eat like little pigs.

 

I usually put my big mac box straight in the bin tbf

[Smirking_Saint]

You are aware that you have a goatee beard, aren't you?

 

lol

[Jonnyboy]

You forgot that bastion of 'Britishness'; Tea!

 

erm, 2nd on the list

[Jonnyboy]

Using your brain to multifunction in the colonies is aspired to by many but achieved by few.

 

ever actually been to one of these so called colonies...

[explorer saint]

Right so when you finish your meal do you put your knife and fork together,I do hope so otherwise I will be rightly upset at associating with what I thought were good upstanding chaps.

I for one do this and have had to get shot of a girlfriend as she did eat like she had the table manners of a baboon female of course

[hamster]

I eat with my fingers so not sure where I stand

 

In the corner you peasant.

[washsaint]

Probably already done....but you should try living in America! If they don't use their fingers they stab food as though it is still alive and then saw at it as though it were a piece of wood before swapping hands again.

[aintforever]

Who gives a fukk how you hold your knife and fork, anyone who cares is a d!ck.

Edited 29 October, 2010 by aintforever

[SNSUN]

My second school's motto was Manners Maketh Man. We got punished for not doing something correctly, and thus it has stuck. That said, it doesn't bug me if other people do it incorrectly.

[aintforever]

My second school's motto was Manners Maketh Man. We got punished for not doing something correctly, and thus it has stuck.

 

Says the man with an arse for an avatar.

[Whitey Grandad]

Says the man with an arse for an avatar.

 

Would that be an avatarse?

 

I'll get me Horlicks.

[SNSUN]

Says the man with an arse for an avatar.

 

You can spunk on an arse all you like, as long as you clean up afterwards. It's just good manners. The same applies to faces, tits and avatars.

[OttawaSaint]

It's how you hold your **** that counts...

[chrisobee]

How old are you Dune?

 

Is there a minimum age for posting on here ? If so that is your answer

[chrisobee]

You are aware that you have a goatee beard, aren't you?

 

I'm sure he does, he's stupid, not blind ( allegedly ! )

Edited 30 October, 2010 by chrisobee
Trying to avoid libel action :)

[ecuk268]

My second school's motto was Manners Maketh Man. We got punished for not doing something correctly, and thus it has stuck. That said, it doesn't bug me if other people do it incorrectly.

 

Who defines what is correct?

 

What if they change their mind?

 

How would we know?

[Dr Who?]

I always get told off for put my knife down in the middle of the fork when I finish my meal. I cannot see what is wrong with this.

 

I have my siver service so I know how to set a table and how to use a knife and fork, but how to put it down I was always told together in the middle bottom of the plate, but why not the knife in the fork? Weird but my wife hates it so I keep doing it anyway!

[bridge too far]

What about elbows on the table when eating,eh? My dad used to tell me off for that time and time again.

[ericofarabia]

Also the jaunty raising of your little pinky whilst holding a delicate bone china cup of tea or fine crystal champagne flute just oozes sophistication. I even do it whilst holding a pint glass .... proper couth me.