Community Chat

[cherry]

It seems we commit  a huge social gaffe ,all the  time. We eat like Americans   

It seems even our Meghan got a slap on the wrist, by this gentleman.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-5191959/William-Hanson-names-poorly-behaved-celebs-2017.ht...

[Fair Lady]

william Hanson may be referring to different styles of eating - The American Style and The Continental Style:

"The American Style of Eating
American style eating is done by holding the knife in the right hand and the fork in the left hand. After the knife is used to cut the food while the food is held by the fork, the knife is placed near the top of the plate, blade facing in. The fork is then switched to the right hand and used to pick up the piece of food, tines facing up.

The Continental Style of Eating
In the early nineteenth century, Europeans ate just as we do now, but around 1850, the upper class stopped shifting their forks back and forth, and the Continental (or European) style of eating became fashionable. A French etiquette book of the time remarks: "If you wish to eat in the latest mode favored by fashionable people, you will not change your fork to your right hand after you have cut your meat, but raise it to your mouth in your left hand."

The Continental style is thought to be a more graceful way of eating, but it does take practice. The fork stays in the left hand, with the tines pointed down, and the knife is held by the right hand. The food is then speared by the fork and brought to the mouth with the tines facing down." (www.etiquetteprinciples.com)

One is not necessarily better than the other. It is best to know both styles and use the one that the majority of others present are using.

It's the elbows on the table and eating with mouth open that is generally considered bad manners.

Etiquette is about making others comfortable in any given social setting.

Have a great day!

[cherry]

This might be a myth, but I read Emily Post( perhaps?)  Got sick of watching the men shovel their food into their mouths at dinner

So she started switching the fork to her right hand in an effort to slow them down

It didn't work too well with my son. I was amazed at how fast he eats. He never used to when he lived at home

He said it started in the Navy, at boot camp, if you wanted to eat you had better do it fast, because there were so many to feed ,and so little time to do it

Then he was a Petty Officer on a sub for 9 years. He said the table only sat 20 ,and 100 guys needed to eat, so no lingering at dinner for him

[Fair Lady]

So interesting! Thanks for sharing.

I had an English grandmother so I was exposed to the continental style of eating. It is more efficient.

I think at home, in the privacy of your own home you ought to be able to eat however you want.

But if you're raising children, you might want to set a good example.

And (horrors) if your spouse is filming you and posting it on social media, there's another reason to spruce up your table manners.

[on the bay]

@cherry-

The same was true for my son!

He said he started eating so fast in the army. You'd better eat fast because you only had a certain amount of time.

I noticed too that when my kids went to school they started eating faster-

And of course they did. 

I don't know how 30 minutes to get in line or get a seat and run out to recess is time to eat slowly.Except for one daughter.

Now, my grandson is not yet 2 and she teaches him to chew with his mouth closed Laughing,I told her she is probably the only mother teaching her 18 mo old that but she said, once they get older, its harder to teach them not to (chew with their mouths open). 

[CelticCrafter]

I eat the Continental way, not because that's the way I was taught but because I'm left handed.

For some reason, it was easier for me to learn to use the dinner knife with my right hand.

The only other things I use my right hand for are scissors and a crank can opener.

[Fair Lady]

I like people to feel comfortable and I thinks that's what good manners is about so I don't judge others for the way they eat.

However, I felt I would be doing my children a disservice if I didn't teach them how to eat properly so that they would know how to eat at their future inlaws or with their boss. I would say, " Well, if you ever have the chance to eat at the White House ( or with the Queen), this is the proper way."

[cherry]

Eat what ever way makes you comfortable, but for heavens sake don't smack!~  

[151949]

Unfortunately, over my 40+ years as a nurse with only a few min to actually eat thru a 12 hour workday ( I mean literally 5 to 10 min only) - I learned to survive I had to eat very fast. I still eat fast, can't seem to break the habit.

[Oznell]

I'm the same, @CelticCrafter.  Left-handed, eat that way, am right handed for scissors, etc.!

Additionally, we never made the fork switcheroo at home.  My parents, being Canadians, pretty much followed customs for British dining, and I'm under the impression that Brits use the Continental method too...

I enjoy watching the fork abracadabra thing though-- it always looks exotic to me!  But neither method is "wrong".