Modern manners

[northlondoner]

I have been consortng outside east dulwich rather a lot lately and have noticed an explosion of odd dinner table behaviour. Amongst the most puzzling is a profusion of people using knives in their left hands and forks in their right. Did I miss something ? Is it now ok to eat like this? Interstingly I never see folk doing this in dulwich.

[RosieH]

Were you at a sinister convention?

[AllyCat]

As a left-hander I use my knife in my left hand and a fork in my right - not so easy with a proper fish knife though - the blade ends up on the wrong side!

[woofmarkthedog]

RosieH Wrote:

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> Were you at a sinister convention?

________________________________________

I...

Am sinister at times though generally I'm right...

W**F

[northlondoner]

I can understand a left hander doing this . But the chief culprit of my acquaintance is right handed.

[felt-tip]

isnt that etiquette as opposed to manners?

[computedshorty]

Do you use your fork by the left hand to dig the garden?

[ontheedge]

pastry forks are also difficult for lefties

[indiepanda]

My left handed boyfriend eats with the knife in the left hand.

But I am left handed and I don't - gather my mum used to set the table with the knife on the left for me when I was a kid, one day she forgot and I didn't notice and picked up and used as it was and it took till I was half way through dinner before she noticed I was eating the right way round.

[Brendan]

Preposterous! We don?t let people drive on the opposite side of the road if they fancy now do we? Who knows what manner of chaos will befall the civilised world if we allow this sort of thing to continue?

They will have to invent a whole new section on dinner invitations where you stipulate in you RSVP which direction your place should be set in. How are the serving staff going to know which side to approach from when there a rows of people eating in opposite directions.

Think of the carnage!

Think of the madness it will cause with the wine glasses!

For gods? sake won?t somebody think of the children!

[northlondoner]

Brendan Wrote:

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> Preposterous! We don?t let people drive on the

> opposite side of the road if they fancy now do we?

> Who knows what manner of chaos will befall the

> civilised world if we allow this sort of thing to

> continue?

>

> They will have to invent a whole new section on

> dinner invitations where you stipulate in you RSVP

> which direction your place should be set in. How

> are the serving staff going to know which side to

> approach from when there a rows of people eating

> in opposite directions.

>

> Think of the carnage!

>

> Think of the madness it will cause with the wine

> glasses!

>

> For gods? sake won?t somebody think of the

> children!

Quite so. Man the barricades. Elbows on tables, anyone? And there can be few things more upsetting to the senses than being at table with someone eating their dinner with a spoon. Unless it's soup.

[silverfox]

Definitely a social faux pas using knives in their left hands and forks in their right. I blame the parents (and eating in front of the telly).

[sophiesofa]

My boyfriend and his entire family eat with their knives and forks the wrong way round and they're all right handed - it's very odd.

[georgia]

I do too - don't know why as I am right-handed but my mother told me she gave up trying to make me eat the 'right' way when I was a kid

[ryedalema]

Oh perhaps I've swallowed a gullible pill. My OH told me it's an Aussie thing to eat the 'other way around'. He's from Adelaide and eats that way (but also grew up in Papua New Guinea and Tasmania - so it could hail from there too). I'm a lefty and eat normally - strict boarding school upbringing and many slapped wrists.

We never eat in front of the telly so it can't be that.

[silverfox]

I don't know if it's an American thing but have you noticed how as well as holding the knife in the left hand some of these etiquette abusers also hold the fork in the right hand tines down in a clenched-fist fashion, pinning the food to the plate while sawing away with the left hand as if cutting a loaf of bread.

Whatever next, passing the port to the right?

[katie1997]

Indeed...who knows, all this could lead down the perilous path of burgundy being served in a bordeaux glass!

[Brendan]

So long as you remember to pass the koutchie on the left hand side.

[Narnia]

I saw an episode of a food series on TV last week where 2 guys had to cater for a dinner party for 10 with the host being a bit of a Dragon. The chap serving the food/drink didn't know the first thing about wine and served white at room temperature. The host ending up putting ice in his glass. Beat that!

[HAL9000]

I'm ambidextrous so can switch knife/fork hands and usage style to whatever is the accepted norm on my travels.

Good table manners are a virtue but they are also highly relative - different cultures have very different standards.

I find all the Old School, class-conscious, U and non-U guff that masquerades for etiquette in Europe, and the UK in particular, a bit antiquated in this enlightened age.

For some time now I?ve resisted adopting upper class affectations - even when dining with royalty.

[Ladymuck]

HAL9000 Wrote:

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> For some time now I?ve resisted adopting upper

> class affectations - even when dining with

> royalty.

*Orders Butler to revoke invitation to Royal Palace*

[buggie]

I'm a left hander and the thought of using my knife in the left hand leaves me cold - using knife and fork the "correct" way round makes complete sense to me as my left hand is always the one going to my mouth - whether using spoon, chopsticks, fork on it's own or with a knife - I always think it's odd R handers use their L hand if using knife and fork otherwise use their R hand!

[helena handbasket]

It's slightly North American, except:

- we hold the knife in the right hand, fork in the left to cut one mouthful

- we then place the knife across the top right ridge of the plate

- switch the fork to the right hand, place one mouthful in mouth, and place fork down while chewing

- back to knife in right hand, fork in left

This goes on and on for every single bite.

It is just as pointless as it sounds and I would love to meet the person who made eating such a chore. I think about doing it "your" way, but it just happens without thinking about it. Try it the other way around, it's hard!

But there you have it, you have likely seen at least one person in ED eat that way....... me!

[BigOne]

Snobs - the lot of you !!

[TheArtfulDogger]

I must be Bi something or other ...as I tend to swap hands every so often during a meal... makes it feel different every time.