Using cutlery the wrong way around

[Chippychop]

I just cannot believe the number of people who out their forkmintheir right hand and knife in left ? It really annoys me.... And I'm left handed too

[AMumInScotland]

Honestly, I don't think it matters nearly as much as just getting the food from the plate to your mouth in a neat and tidy way, then eating it politely, without making noises or having your mouth open etc. If everyone could just manage that, the world would be a pleasanter place! (Assuming there are no fundamental reasons why people have poor coordination etc of course!)

Not putting used cutlery onto the table surface would be nice too...

[Gimblinginthewabe]

The only people I know who do it are Dsis and DH who are both right handed. I am a lefty and eat with them in the "proper" hands.

I don't see the problem with which hands people use and think that forcing them to use certain hands is akin to forcing lefties to use their right hand for writing in the victorian times!

[BikeRunSki]

I eat the wrong way round. Drives my mother up the wall.

[bluecarrot]

DDs dad (my ex) forces her to eat with cutlery the "right way round" (she is left handed) and even eat pizza with cutlery. Which is weird cause last time he was here he ate an extraordinary array of food with his fingers and I was rather grossed out (I cant touch "wet" food with bare hands...ewww) Plus he talks with food in his mouth.

I just tell her to use the cutlery when appropriate (NOT burgers and pizzas at home. pizzas in fancy restaurant maybe?) and to make sure her mouth is closed when theres food in there, and Ill be happy.

[Meglet]

I'm right handed but have always used my cutlery the 'wrong way round'. It doesn't matter.

[HSMM]

DD (13) is right handed and had always held her knife and fork in the wrong hands. I've tried to change her round, but she just can't do it. I leave her to it now.

[sashh]

A couple of my friends do this, it drives me mad too, not because it looks wrong but because they are both right handed they don't actually cut food with their knife. The knife is used to hold the food which is then torn away with the fork.

[SilverIce]

Doesn't bother me which hand the knife and fork are held in. Does bother me when the fork is held like a pencil.

[lljkk]

I am foreign so do it different which drives poor DH's family slightly batty.
Of course I think they are being daft to care. They are also paranoid about elbows touching table.
DH family is strongly left-handed & he is the first lefty to eat the wrong way around, that was a major practical concession for his old-fashioned mum.

Half our household is LH, makes for some interesting seating problems, elbow-space dilemmas, during meals.

[Pascha]

DH is left handed and uses his cutlery the 'wrong' way round. He doesn't care, I don't care and nobody we've ever eaten with has ever given one shiny shit. I don't understand how something so insignificant bothers anyone at all really.

[TiggyD]

I believe it comes from the days before forks when you just had a knife and used it with your 'best' hand because you had more control. Nowadays I think it's more useful to have your fork in your good hand as you need your fork to do more complicated things than your knife.

To all those who have loved ones that can't cut with a knife in their left hand: They're just plain stupid. It's just moving it back and forwards while pushing down a bit. It's not rocket surgery.

[squeezelouise400]

I eat the wrong way round!

I have done since I started school at the age of 5, my mum did not teach me and my brother to eat with a knife and fork and I can remember my school friends, yes other 4 and 5 year olds teaching me how to eat with a knife and fork!!!

It sounds unbelievable but it's true, and you know I remember the kids were really patient with me too and they seemed to just accept the fact I did not know how to use the knife and fork. The kids did not question it, nor did they judge me they were amazing and to think that life is too short to hold a grudge against a person just because of they way they hold their cutlery just seems bizarre to me.

[feathermucker]

Wow, this has to be the epitome of a 'first world problem'

Some of you seem like you actually think less of people who do it the 'wrong way' round!!

It. Really. Doesn't. Matter. At. All

[PigletJohn]

Good manners are really important.

A person with good manners will not embarrass or criticise a person who uses cutlery differently.

HM the Q eats fish with two forks.

[sami1985]

I do it both ways, and don't really think about it. If I have tough meat I will use knife in my right hand, if not its usually the other way. I just puck them up how it feels comfortable. If the table is already laid I tend to use them however they are set.

I also put my elbows on the table (how uncouth!), not in posh restaurants tho!!

[jaykay34]

I eat "wrong handed" and apart from my partner who also does...have not met or seen anyone else do it.

I have had a lot of people notice I do it...accompanied with "ooooh are you left handed ?" type comments - but didn't realise it actually offended some people !

This thread had been an eye opener.

[SuchSweetSorrow]

I'm ashamed to this this is something I definitely notice (spotted someone in Eastenders doing it the other day) and have judged in the past.

It really shouldn't matter what hand people use- I think I'll blame my parents for deep rooted cutlery issues

[beccajoh]

DH and all his siblings eat with their cutlery the wrong way round. I find it endlessly fascinating, especially because their parents use cutlery the right way round.

Actually now I think about it, one of my SILs eats all her food by stabbing at it with a fork relentlessly until it sticks. That irritates me.

[Slubberdegullion]

I notice. There are plenty of people who notice. Poor table manners which include holding or using your cutlery incorrectly will be observed and mentally noted upon by certain sections of British society, and yes, it is a class thing.

[AMumInScotland]

Is there a prize for a multiple-zombie thread?

[QuintessentiallyQS]

I dont care how other people hold their knives and forks, or whether they dip bread in soup, or not. Spoon peas into their mouths, use the butter knife with cheese, or the fish fork with their whatsits.

I only care how my children use their cutlery, and that is the "proper way", and most definitely not grabbing the porkchop with both hands and suck it off the bone! Yet, if they ever dare comment how other children use the cutlery or grab food out of serving bowls with their hands, I ask them to stop being rude as we dont comment on what others do. Or, I rather shoot them "a look" that says it all, and they freeze into submission and say no more about other kid grabbing a handful of pasta out of the serving bowl.

[bouquetofpencils]

Quite frankly, weird thing to get upset about.

It's not a LAW is it? We are free to choose what suits us?

I wish I had such trivial things to get wound up about.

[Peppa87]

Who REALLY cares? I use mine the 'wrong' way around, i really struggle otherwise for some unknown reason! I will never understand why anyone would be bothered by it

[Sicaq]

Eh? There is a "right"and a "wrong" way to use a knife and fork?!I must be terribly uncouth; I had no idea.

Wonder if I have inadvertently disgraced myself on numerous occasions ...

[Pipbin]

Who are all these people who use their knives and forks in the wrong hands?
I know it doesn't matter, I know it doesn't make a difference, but it still makes me itch.