primroseburrows: (DT: other worlds)
primroseburrows ([personal profile] primroseburrows) wrote2009-06-01 02:28 pm

Unofficial Etiquette Pollage

After hearing a discussion on the radio about table manners and cultural/national ways of eating, I got curious and decided to ask you guys about it. According to the program, there is more than one way people in Western countries use a knife while eating. I did not know this, which shows just how much I don't know about culture.

So anyway, a poll:



[Poll #1409363]
ext_6866: (Yum!)

[identity profile] sistermagpie.livejournal.com 2009-06-01 07:16 pm (UTC)(link)
They probably don't refer to it as that or even notice it, but it's just one of those fascinating physical things that are second nature to some and totally foreign to others? It's probably just as weird to them to watch me switch my fork into my other hand, but that's just kind of awkward.
titti: (Default)

[personal profile] titti 2009-06-01 07:20 pm (UTC)(link)
Once you get used to it, it's really much more convenient and speedy. ;)

[identity profile] dragonflymuse.livejournal.com 2009-06-01 07:28 pm (UTC)(link)
Option 1 is the 'North American' way; option 2 is the 'European' way, according to an episode of 'Twin Peaks', which featured this exact same conundrum :)
ext_3190: Red icon with logo "I drink Nozz-a-la- Cola" in cursive. (waldorf)

[identity profile] primroseburrows.livejournal.com 2009-06-01 07:45 pm (UTC)(link)
It's kind of like knitting. The continental way is much faster than the way we do it in the US (although I've never been able to get the hang of it).
ext_3190: Red icon with logo "I drink Nozz-a-la- Cola" in cursive. (DT: other worlds)

[identity profile] primroseburrows.livejournal.com 2009-06-01 07:53 pm (UTC)(link)
I dunno--I've yet to see Twin Peaks (I know, I suck). According to Manners Lady (whose name I forget), it's 'American' and 'Continental'. This website has more description of the difference.

The names beg the question, though: What about Mexico and other countries? How do Mexicans/Russians/Egyptians, etc. hold their forks and knives? And then there's the whole other issue of chopsticks. Oh, teh complexity of it all. *angsts*
ext_29220: celeb / jensen (no cake!)

[identity profile] stormymouse.livejournal.com 2009-06-01 07:56 pm (UTC)(link)
now that i think of it, i've never seen any of my canadian peeps do it, either. hmmm. i need to pay attention to that from now on. intriguing.

[identity profile] kupukello.livejournal.com 2009-06-01 08:03 pm (UTC)(link)
Heh :D Eating with the fork in the right hand is definitely an American thing, in my country only small children are allowed to do that, civilized grown-ups ALWAYS keep the fork in the left hand and knife in the right. And you only cut one piece, one small mouthful at a time, keeping the rest of the food organized, no mixing or mushing or making a mess of your plate!

And don't get me started about eating with just a fork (if it's not a salad you're eating) or, ick, with your fingers! BIG no-nos here! Sign of seriously bad manners! Kiddie eating!

:D
zeenell: (Default)

[personal profile] zeenell 2009-06-01 08:05 pm (UTC)(link)
...I hold the knife in my left hand and hold the fork in my right hand?

Depending on who cooked the steak, sometimes I switch to knife in right hand and fork in left hand, which means I have to switch back. (....i can't use a fork or spoon left handed (unless I am just using the fork to hold the meat). I am such a righty *facepalm*.

But, yeah, as long as someone didn't overcook it, I don't tend to switch hands - and unless I'm trying to read a book while eating, I hold the utensils in both hands.
ext_3190: Red icon with logo "I drink Nozz-a-la- Cola" in cursive. (hands)

[identity profile] primroseburrows.livejournal.com 2009-06-01 08:07 pm (UTC)(link)
Maybe Twin Peaks was right--it should be called "North American". The host of the show had never heard of the switching thing. According to Wikipedia he was born in London (England) and raised in Canada. I'm pretty sure he's of Muslim ancestry, but I don't know how much ethnicity affects the whole thing, since I never knew there WAS a whole thing until today.

[identity profile] suchthefangirl.livejournal.com 2009-06-01 08:09 pm (UTC)(link)
I was told that not switching (my way) was the British way. I always figured it was due to my bizarre ambidextrousness. Or maybe the fact that my parents are first generation (though, I've can't remember which way they eat).

I am and have always been a bit of a freak...
ext_3190: Red icon with logo "I drink Nozz-a-la- Cola" in cursive. (curtsmile)

[identity profile] primroseburrows.livejournal.com 2009-06-01 08:10 pm (UTC)(link)
Freakishness is in the eye of the beholder. I've been writing 'colour' and 'harbour' and such since I was around twelve, because I think it's prettier. ;)
titti: (SW Obi as Slyt)

[personal profile] titti 2009-06-01 08:14 pm (UTC)(link)
I learned to knit long long ago in a galaxy *cough* I mean country far far away, but I've never knitted here so I don't even know what the difference is.
ext_29220: celeb / jensen (trio)

[identity profile] stormymouse.livejournal.com 2009-06-01 08:16 pm (UTC)(link)
it never occurred to me that people would be taught to do the switching-and-putting-down thing. i've seen it done on tv or in movies but i've always figured it's just the way that certain person uses cutlery.
ext_17167: (Default)

[identity profile] stormwynd.livejournal.com 2009-06-01 08:25 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm of the "put down the knife and transfer the fork to the other hand" ilk, but since that's a bit inefficient, I sometimes will do all the cutting I need to do in one go -- cut up the entire steak, for example, and then eat it.

[identity profile] heinous_bitca.livejournal.com 2009-06-01 09:31 pm (UTC)(link)
I learned to use my fork in my left hand and my knife in my right from my French exchange student who was with us for a month or so in 1984. I hadn't done it that way before then, but it made so much sense, that I can't imagine doing it any other way.

[identity profile] dragonflymuse.livejournal.com 2009-06-01 10:38 pm (UTC)(link)
European, Continental... tomato, to-mah-to ::g::

[identity profile] girlorchid.livejournal.com 2009-06-01 11:22 pm (UTC)(link)
When I lived in the USA people used to mock me (really, mock me!) for the way I ate! And yet my way is faster :-p
ext_3190: Red icon with logo "I drink Nozz-a-la- Cola" in cursive. (SA: gtpoint)

[identity profile] primroseburrows.livejournal.com 2009-06-01 11:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Your way is definitely faster. Will experiment. :)
ext_3190: Red icon with logo "I drink Nozz-a-la- Cola" in cursive. (group w)

[identity profile] primroseburrows.livejournal.com 2009-06-01 11:29 pm (UTC)(link)
Cutting up the whole shebang should have been an option. Curse LJ for not allowing poll edits. :/

"Put down the knife" sounds kinda like "put down the duckie"; and so I have an excuse to offer this:



ext_3190: Red icon with logo "I drink Nozz-a-la- Cola" in cursive. (SA: anna)

[identity profile] primroseburrows.livejournal.com 2009-06-02 02:47 am (UTC)(link)
Dude. I just found out my mother knows there are two ways to do it. I'm out of the etiquette loop like woah.
ext_18381: meebo tzippy (Default)

[identity profile] trempnvt.livejournal.com 2009-06-02 03:08 am (UTC)(link)
There probably would be, but I honestly don't notice this stuff. (In fact, I thought what I did was normal until it was pointed out to me that it's not.)

[identity profile] mawaridi.livejournal.com 2009-06-02 04:19 am (UTC)(link)
YEah, that's how I do it. You pick things up with the fork (in the left hand) and us the knife (in the right hand) to sweep extra bits of food onto the back of the fork. Good for stuff like stews, mashed potato, etc that you can't pick up by stabbing, and an alternative to "shovelling" or "scooping" with the fork (although sometimes I do that too). I was always told as a kid that it was rude to shovel up your food with a fork instead of pressing or wiping food onto the back of it, but that seems silly to me. Am Australian with a fairly distant British background, btw :)

[identity profile] pingviini.livejournal.com 2009-06-02 08:58 am (UTC)(link)
Fork in left hand, knife in right hand, no switching hands. When we visited our relatives in America they had a lot of fun watching us eat. :) I don't know if they thought it was bad table manners or just exotic!
ext_3190: Red icon with logo "I drink Nozz-a-la- Cola" in cursive. (DT: nozz-a-la)

[identity profile] primroseburrows.livejournal.com 2009-06-03 04:25 am (UTC)(link)
Hehee! It's just another way of doing it, apparently. And more efficient, absolutely. The switcheroo seems to be pretty much a North American thing (although I don't know about Mexico, because nobody from there took the poll *g*).
ext_17167: (Default)

[identity profile] stormwynd.livejournal.com 2009-06-04 04:33 am (UTC)(link)
Oh wow, I remember watching this when I was little!

*gets all nostalgic*

Thanks!

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