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There's equally complex dining and utensils etiquette in Western culture but it's largely omitted (or even unknown) on daily basis.
by pndy 7mo ago
There's equally complex dining and utensils etiquette in Western culture but it's largely omitted (or even unknown) on daily basis.
- chasil 7mo agoThere is a wiki. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eating_utensil_etiquette https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eating_utensil_etiquette Edit: The wiki on chopsticks has an etiquette section broken down by country. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chopsticks#Chopstick_customs,_manners_and_etiquette https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chopsticks#Chopstick_customs,_...
- 3eb7988a1663 7mo agoThe difference between the American and European styles has been used as plot point in fictional works, including the 1946 film O.S.S. and the 2014 series Turn: Washington's Spies.[5] In both works, using the wrong fork etiquette threatens to expose undercover agents. Nuts. Apparently I have been a German spy all this time. I don't have time to waste swapping a fork around.
- jacquesm 7mo agoBut can you pronounce 'Scheveningen'?
- mrkandel 7mo agoTarantino has a bit about it in inglorious bastards.
- 3eb7988a1663 7mo agoThe tell was not related to the cutlery, but counting on the fingers.
- lo_zamoyski 7mo agoAmerican zigzagging utensil acrobatics always seemed like a lot of nonsense to me. It looks bad and fiddly.
- pndy 7mo agoYou may "enjoy" this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1VRIEg2Xsw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1VRIEg2Xsw
- ghaff 7mo agoI’m not even sure what the technical etiquite is. As a right handed American it just seems more natural to have my knife in my right hand but if I’m just using a fork I tend to switch that to my right hand. Didn’t even think about it until right now.
- t-3 7mo agoI've always just done the cutting at the beginning of the meal then set the knife to the side. All of the etiquette patterns I've heard about seem wrong to me compared to just cut first and then put the knife down.
- jon_richards 7mo agoI was taught that’s old American from before knives were cheap. Originally you’d pass the knife. Strange that the wiki implies you set the knife down after each cut.
- ghaff 7mo agoSome people do that but it’s probably not the norm in general.
- herewulf 7mo ago"Nuts" is the correct expression to indicate that you are not a German spy as it is a very perplexing Americanism. Go to Germany and try using "Nüsse" as an interjection! See also: Bastogne.
- danmaz74 7mo agoFascinating. The difference of the American style where you switch the fork between the left and right hands reminded me of a similar difference in fishing gear - where Americans (to my understanding) mostly cast with their right hand and then switch the rod to their left hand when retrieving, while in Europe (or at least in Italy) you usually just keep the rod in the right hand instead of switching.
- 20k 7mo agoIts always extremely funny reading wikipedia articles about a countries customs. For the UK: >Bread is always served and can be placed on the table cloth itself This is extremely rare, to the point where I can't remember the last time I saw it. Is bread really.. always served? > In the United Kingdom, the fork tines face upward while sitting on the table. Tines down isn't uncommon in the UK either >if a knife is not needed – such as when eating pasta – the fork can be held in the right hand I mean it can be, but its fairly uncommon >it is permissible to place a small piece of bread at the end of the fork for dipping Its also 100% fine to dip bread in a sauce with your fingers. Putting bread on a fork if you've licked the fork and then dipping the bread would cause everyone to hate you, so *don't do this*
- bee_rider 7mo agoI suspect people who are motivated enough to contribute to the Wikipedia article are a bit over-interested in memorizing social rules.
- retsibsi 7mo ago> >if a knife is not needed – such as when eating pasta – the fork can be held in the right hand > I mean it can be, but its fairly uncommon So the norm is that if you're eating one-handed, you use your non-dominant hand? That seems really counterintuitive to me; is it because you're so used to having the fork in the non-dominant hand that it feels awkward the other way? Which hand do you use when eating with a spoon?
- 20k 7mo agoSpoons always go in the right hand (eg fork and spoon), but yes I'd say people usually use the fork in the non dominant hand. Fork in the right hand is slightly 'uncouth', possibly due to its american associations
- pja 7mo ago> Is bread really.. always served? At any kind of formal dining? Yes, absolutely, I would expect there to be a bread roll & a pat of butter served at the beginning of the meal. Both in restaurants & formal dinners in my experience. It's not an absolute rule though & you generally wouldn't expect bread to be served like this at home in the UK. I think the French are more likely to serve bread at home as well.
- implements 7mo agoI’m right handed, but eat with the fork in my right hand and knife in the left. Is the issue that people have difficulty cutting with their left hand? Because if you can the process of eating is pretty efficient: hold with fork, cut with knife, move food on fork to mouth …
- krs_ 7mo agoI'm in Europe and I did the same as a child because it just felt the most natural. But you better believe our teachers in school would try to force the opposite. The argument was that imagine if everyone cuts with their right hand, but then you cut with your left and cause a lot of annoyance by bumping your elbow info your table neighbor's elbow. Absolutely a non-issue in reality obviously. But nowadays I do hold my cutlery "properly" as a result. To me it now feels natural to bring the fork to my mouth with the left hand. Or the right one, really, but I default to holding it in the left.
- implements 7mo agoAhh! Yeah, my teachers were equally unimpressed - but none of them gave the argument you mentioned, which could at least be understood (like elbows on tables).
- laughing_man 7mo agoYes! Hardly anyone knows it all, and even people who know the basics adjust their behavior based on the situation. Eating out with your high school buddies requires a different level of observance than the dinner at which your girlfriend is introducing you to her parents.
- maxerickson 7mo agoThat's not really a coherent statement. If people don't even know it, it's not part of the culture.
- shermantanktop 7mo agoWho are the “people” that you are referring to? This makes total sense to me. There is no monolithic “culture”— there are multiple related cultures, differing little in essence but differing greatly in the details. And each individual is usually only partially ignorant anyway. Culture changes, too, and asymmetrically. So the “done thing” may be done be very few anymore.
- maxerickson 7mo agoI guess I was talking about the people that don't know about the culture you guys say they are part of.
- dxdm 7mo agoFor some reason, you're reading things into the original statement that are not there. "An etiquette exists in a culture" does not mean everyone has to follow or even be aware of it.
- maxerickson 7mo agoI would say I'm accurately reading "Western culture" as a nonsensical concept. Add an s and it gets a little better.
- dxdm 7mo agoIf mentally adding an "s" to the original comment enables you move past this issue and actually consider the comment as it was intended, then I would say that is well done and worth the effort to get to this point. :) Have a great Sunday!
- econ 7mo agoI use to have a routine with a friend where we paid close attention to the table manners of his wealthy upper class relatives. Then when they did something wrong we would point it out loudly as if it was the end of the world. Best was 3+ mistakes in a row. Bonus points if you can point out the mistake and add something like we are not in Belgium!