Funny Pictures Thread. It begins again
- Thread starter CrimsonSoul
- Start date
Oh yeah? Well depending on how lazy I'm feeling, I won't even cut the meat. I'll slice open my dinner roll and stick the meat inside, and just hold the roll in my hands and take huge bites out of the combined bread and meat.
Damn you Asians! Always coming up with these new and innovative eating techniques.
I've always cut with my left. and never switch. manners be damned.
I'm right handed, and American (thus right in all things) and I'm pretty comfortable with knife in left or right hand, and fork in either as well (though opposite, of course... no same-hand utensil witchcraft). I've never felt the need to switch, though which hand holds which usually depends on if there will be a lot of cutting through thick meat involved.
figmentPez
Staff member
GasBandit
Staff member
I'd always been taught as a child that etiquette demanded I cut up all my food first rather than one bite at a time, and then lay the knife down and not touch it again. So I do end up transferring my fork back to my right hand, simply because it'd be silly to eat with my left when there's nothing in my right, as I am right handed.
Spent formative years in Australia, so I cut with my right and fork with my left.
This. Cutting as you eat is the sign of poor table manners or so we are taught in the US.
Cajungal
Staff member
Weird. I was taught: Cut one bite with right hand, take bite, put utensils down (or just relax your hands so the utensils aren't fiddling with your food), chew, swallow, lift utensils, repeat. But then we all imitated our food - inhaling dad so that might have just been mom trying to slow us down.
OK, I honestly didn't know Americans had bass-ackwards would-be etiquette. It's not "Canadians", it's, I assure you, "the whole rest of the world except the smart ones who use chopsticks and the poor ones who use their hands". Israel, Russia, South-Africa, India, Australia, anything. This is really surprising, to find yet another thing in which Americans just want to be backwards from all the rest of the world. 
So for anyone ever going abroad, anywhere: it('s considered extremely impolite, not to mention childish, to cut your food first, then eat it. It's what you do for a 5 year old, an adult should be able to manage choosing a bite, slicing it off, eating it, rince and repeat, without putting a dirty knife on table cloth at any point in between.
So for anyone ever going abroad, anywhere: it('s considered extremely impolite, not to mention childish, to cut your food first, then eat it. It's what you do for a 5 year old, an adult should be able to manage choosing a bite, slicing it off, eating it, rince and repeat, without putting a dirty knife on table cloth at any point in between.
fade
Staff member
The thing that I find strangest is that someone came here from another place and ate with opposite hands, no one would care. They might make a passing comment on it, which I've found a lot of Europeans seem to misinterpret as some raging biased hatred. (If joe redneck says "y'all eat with backwards hands" that's the extent of his thoughts on the matter, case closed).
In many European countries, going up to a complete stranger to give negative remarks about their habits pretty much means you're either incredibly impolite, astoundingly arrogant, or think what they're doing is utterly repulsive. Note that this is really dependent on country - Dutch people are right up there with Americans as far as "loud, open and assertive" is concerned, whereas a Frenchman might just barely make a passing remark that, "hey, are you sure your hair's supposed to be on fire, sir? No disrespect, but that may seem uncomfortable, though if it's your custom, please continue burning".
fade
Staff member
Not to argue or anything but I work for a European company and making disparaging remarks about Americans seems to be a pastime for them. We've got a good mix of British, French, and German here.
Cajungal
Staff member
figmentPez
Staff member
