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Native Brit here. Never come across the word flatware before. It appears to be a US term. Or maybe I'm just ignorant. 1. utensils, as knives, forks, and spoons
by sjcsjc 8y ago
Native Brit here. Never come across the word flatware before. It appears to be a US term. Or maybe I'm just ignorant.
1. utensils, as knives, forks, and spoons, used at the table for serving and eating food. 2. dishes or containers for the table that are more or less flat, as plates and saucers (source: the internet)
- dazc 8y agoMe too, 'dinnerware' is probably the correct term but I think this is one example where the American word is better than the English one?
- sshine 8y agoBetter when discussing logistics, at least. :) Saucepans aren't flat, but they rarely go on airplanes.
- wastedhours 8y agoNative Brit too - I think it's more of an "industry" term, across food service companies, whereas is in general use in the States. Might be an Americanism though, but have heard it pretty commonly here when in food prep circles.
- jrochkind1 8y agoWhat do you call it in the UK? In the U.S., "silverware" is probably even more common (is that what you say in the UK?), but HN readers probably tend to be the type reluctant to use such an obviously wrong term, since the knives, forks, and spoons included in the category are only in very rare cases actually made of silver. :) "Flatware" is more technical/industry, and the next most common if you don't like "silverware"; plus the general "cooking show" trend of everyone wanting to use industry terms to seem like food industry insiders.
- sefrost 8y agoKnives, forks and spoons are called cutlery.
- jgtrosh 8y agoSounds much less hardwarey
- jrochkind1 8y agooh right cutlery! Okay, i'm gonna try to switch to that, I like it. "silverware" is probably the most popular in the US in general.
- gcb0 8y agoas a non native speaker, I feel extremely uneasy every time I get myself saying "I'd like some silverware" in a fast food joint.
- pionar 8y agoAmerican here (Midwest), I've only ever heard it used in the sense of definition 1. It's always been utensils to me, never dishes or containers. In my area, flatware == silverware, but not necessarily silver.
- masklinn 8y agoSo… cutlery?
- ynniv 8y agoI was going to say those are knives, but I defer to wikipedia: "Cutlery is more usually known as silverware or flatware in the United States, where cutlery usually means knives and related cutting instruments." [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutlery https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutlery ]
- dec0dedab0de 8y agoNative Brit here. Never come across the word flatware before. It appears to be a US term. Or maybe I'm just ignorant. I'm from the US, and while I'm sure I've heard it before, I never really noticed it until this last November when I was planning a dinner party for the first time. As I understand it Silverware, Flatware, and Plasticware are all categories of utensils.
- dredmorbius 8y agoFlatware as opposed to hollow. plates, dishes, saucers in a sense "shallow; smooth-surfaced" + ware (n.). Originally as distinguished from hollow ware; U.S. sense of "domestic cutlery" recorded by 1895. https://www.etymonline.com/word/flatware https://www.etymonline.com/word/flatware Also: dishes, crockery, utensils, silverware, silver, cutlery, place settings.
- dkarl 8y agoIn the U.S. I encounter it used by businesses that sell and rent knives, forks, etc., but I rarely hear it used outside the context of buying and renting. Ikea has a "flatware" category on their web site[1], for example, and our biggest local rental company[2] does as well, but I've never heard anybody at a restaurant or a house party ask where to find the flatware. In those contexts we use the word "utensils". [1] https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/departments/eating/18865/ https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/departments/ea... [2] https://premiereeventsonline.com/product-category/flatware/ https://premiereeventsonline.com/product-category/flatware/