to think if you were asked to label a knife and fork as either male and female.

[greenshaker]

You would label the man as a knife

And woman as the fork.

I thought knife male, fork female too.

I think shape was the first thing that sprung to mind for me. Fork is more slender and delicate and complex. Knife is blunter, one piece, more simple, taller.

My Gran used to quote this superstition:

Drop a knife - you'll get a male visitor

A fork - a female visitor

A spoon - a fool

So I always think knife = male. Fork = female.

But knife is cuteddo and fork is furchetta. So masculine and feminine.

I thought knife male and fork female. Don't know why though

I'm with Catgirl on this one.

In my case it's because I'm a southpaw, so although I eat using the 'correct' hands, my stronger one is the one that uses the fork, so it ties in with the male of the species being generally the stronger physically which means, by logical extension, the knife is female (and stronger mentally ).

No thoughts on spoons though - maybe hermaphroditic?

Ahhhhhhh I am also left handed

Perhaps that explains it!

I thought same as OP but learnt something funny about DH tonight. He said male = fork as you 'always use a fork' but 'knives only come in handy occasionally'
not sure what to make of that, he isn't normally that much of an arsehole...

def knife male, straightforward ,blunt one use item lol, etc and fork female several prongs complicated , multi use etc

In a professional kitchen a slotted spoon or a spoon with holes is female and a solid spoon is male.

Dp just said:

Knife is male because it does the cutting

When asked to explain that rather bizarre statement he continued with 'the fork is just a placeholder'

He's been steadily digging the hole deeper since that statement.... He's not normally such a git

For what it's worth I agree with the majority, knives are phallic, forks receivers.

Yes- knife very straight up and down, so male. The fork is more curvy and feminine to look at. Its strange how we perceive objects as having genders sometimes.

I'm with Catgirl on this and for the same reasons too. I'm not left handed, DH is though.

Fork = Male. Always thrusting itself into food in such a sexual way.
Knife = Female. Used for pushing food around in a bossy way and wounding larger items with cutting remarks.
Spoon = Gay best friend. To pick things up when it all goes wrong and put comforting puddings in you.
Spork = Transgender. Obviously.
Chopsticks = The twins. Always together and never put on weight.
Ladle = Auntie. One of those aunties who are very wide at the bottom and keep giving you food. Usually a dinner lady.
Wooden spoon = That annoying bloke at work who's always stirring things. Often covered in odd stains.
Fish knife = Spinster. Odd. Lots of cats.

Knife = make
Fork = female

But only because in my second language ( Italaian) knife (coltello) is male and fork (forchetta) is female

Knife - male. One trick wonder.
Fork - female. Far less shabby, and possesses the ability to multitask.

shabby = stabby. Kindle' s spell check is ducking me off already. never trust something that doesn't auto- capitalise at the start of a substance, and spellchecks it's own name

I tried to think of which one I'd rather have if I were restricted to one at a mealtime. It was the fork, because you can cut things with the edge.So I decided forks were female.

This is odd thinking for me ATM, because DH is the person I would turn to in a crisis and the person I work most closely with, and who is a complete fucking play with your mind, arrogant fucking bully, is a woman.

I'm not sure I've ever sworn on MN before .

That post needed more punctuation to make sense.

I need less wine to make sense....

Spoon, male
Fork, female
Knife, neuter (or whatever the technical term is)

In German that is.

Knife- sharp and cutting= female. Fork- will happily get stuck into anything=male

Knife is male because its what men used to carry and more associated with men and violence and slightly phalic.
Fork is female because it has more curves and a nicer shape.
Spoons are children...

a knife is male

a fork is female

have no idea why i think this

Knife= male, fork= female

Knife is male. It does cutting, that's all - don't even ask it to do anything else.

Fork can do scooping, pronging, whisking and even cutting if the knife can't be arsed and so is undeniably female!

I ended up drunk on mulled wine at a party on Saturday night regaling the other drunks guests with the content of this thread.

9 out of 10 Scottish drunks believe a knife is male.