To be surprised at friend eating so oddly?

[Notfootball]

Went out for dinner with some friends tonight and one of them was loading up her knife and eating from it as though it were a fork. Do other people do this? Is this normal but no one told me?

If you only are using a fork, it can be held by either hand and still considered to be "correct". It is only if both knife and fork are used, is it "incorrect".

I personally think that the only things that matter is the way that food is chewed and other bodily functions, eg throat clearing, are kept under control.

Littlebluetoo if I caught you doing that to my left-handed child I would bloody well kill you ask that you be removd from lunch room duty forevermore.

I speak as a proud left-hander from a long line of left-handers - how DARE you take it upon yourself to 'correct' children?

OP - this is not normal.

WorraLorraTurkey - that is one of my favourite poems - but it is by Ogden Nash, not Spike Milligan.

Today I saw a little worm
Wriggling on his belly.
I wonder if he'd like to come inside
And see what's on the telly?

Spike Milligan (From memory, may be slightly wrong).

As a left hander I also agree with lovecat (although I do actually use a knife and fork 'correctly' but not a spoon and fork).

Re. Americans transferring fork to right hand: I read a long rant somewhere (think it was another forum) in which an American said something like not taking the time to do so was appalling manners of a person determined to shovel food down their throat as fast as possible, and that if anyone ate like that in his presence he would never eat with them again. In fact he felt that someone so appallingly brought up was likely to have lots of other flaws so it would be better in general not to associate with them.

He seemed entirely serious. It's possible he was being ironic, but, well, he's American, and I seem to recall that most people who responded agreed with him.

(This is based on a vague memory so it is entirely possible my brain made half of it up.)

Lovecat... I'm left-handed too but wouldn't eat with a fork in my right hand.

We, as a society, do appear to be summarily obssessed with correcting and judging people for all manners of habits, including correcting children. AIBU is also, apparently, the most popular section of the board. Some people can't live, function or enjoy themselves without benchmarking the behaviour of others against their own, self-professed, perfection.

So I'm genuinely interested at how it works with posters who admit to correcting others, glowing in their pedant self-label, yet wouldn't like the same treatment themselves.

catgirl, I panicked slightly then, in case you were my SIL. Then I remembered that she hates all animals and that's why she hardly ever visits us. Your name suggests that you wouldn't mind visiting us at all .

Ahhh phew....it did cross my mind I could be her

But I love all animals (especially cats of course) and I don't think I'm posh

But you're an extremely rich knife eater? .

We don't live there, we're nearer Lancaster now, but DH was at school in your area... you might know each other!

Haha, Worra! I say that little dirty to my DC's still whenever we have peas!

"Knife in lfet, fork in right"

Err no, I don't think that is the norm. I, as most do, eat with fork in my left hand, knife in my right. I am right handed. Ds2 is left handed ands still eats like this.
BUT, I certainly wouldn't be 'bothered' by a left handed person choosing to eat with their knife in left, fork in right.
But , I'm just saying that I don't think LittleBluetoo is correct. I think it is standard, in the uk, to put fork in your left.

And you never put your knife in your mouth. Everyone knows that.

Ohh if he's late 30s I may well know him :)

He's nine years older, judging by your name!

I think fork in left is standard in uk too

Ah maybe not then

But it's a small place

I shall be on the lookout for an animal hating woman who eats of her knife

I cut my food up with fork sometimes. This is a crime in the mind of my Nanna.

"SP why not use the knife?!"

"Because Nanna you bollock me for holding them wrong!"

"SP why do you hold the fork like a pencil"

"Nanna look grandad licked his knife"

Then she forgets about my crimes for a while

DH holds his knife like a pen - drive me bonkers but he just thinks I'm weird for caring.

I also get very twitchy when people butter the whole piece of bread in a restaurant and bite bits off. You should break off small pieces and butter as you go - its the law!

yuk yuk yuk yuk yuk.

I hate it when people do this.

My great grandma comes back from beyond the grave and does that look inside my head that snootily says "how terribly common"

I meant to add I am utterly scarred horrible table manners could result in your food getting taken off you!

Bossybritches22 I have been trying to stop my DH from holding his knife like a pen for the last 25 years. Making slight headway now. He says it doesn't matter, I say if he doesn't think it matters he could hold it the correct way to humour me. It really makes me feel STABBY seeing him eat like that.

Eating off your knife is not normal. Fork in left and and knife in right is normal, cutting up all your food then changing fork hands and eating ready cut up food is more suggestive of wanting to shovel food down as fast as possible than cutting as you go, and also seems infantile as it produces a plate of pre cut up food such as a 2 year old might be presented with :) Fussing about people buttering their whole piece of bread instead of breaking pieces off and producing lots of crumbs is a nutty as fussing that people shouldn't cut a bread roll in a restaurant but should break it (why though, it may be a "rule" but its illogical).

All that I care about is that people close their mouth when they eat tbh and don't make loud easting noises - oh and I also loathe over enthusiastic appreciation that goes on and on "Oooooooooooooooo this is so delicious, mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, ooooooooooo, lovely, mmmmmmmmmmmmm" Stop it! I even met one woman, the new girlfriend of a friend of my DH, who proudly told us that her boyfriend loved how much she enjoyed her food, and proceed to demonstrate her orgasmic enjoyment - express your appreciation yes, don't fake an orgasm while you eat!

:D

littlebluetoo you say knife in left, fork in right???? Uh oh.

That's not normal in the uk. So if you live here, its usually the other way around. So 5 of the 6 kids were right after all!!! And you shouldn't correct kids when you don't know if they are left handed.

It is not normal.

It is quite rule bending and impolite.

The Queen would most certainly scold her children gently if she saw such a transgression. If she saw your friend, she would just think to herself, "Poor pleb, could benefit with the kind of upbringing my children had and smile sagely to herself. Perhaps.

The American "zig zag" method of eating has possibly 2 origins - from a time when there were no forks & relatively few knives, so they were shared, or as a demonstration of being anti-royalist. It is, apparently, common across most of Northern America, although there is movement towards the Continental way of eating.

I don't think most people would be bothered about the hands knife or fork are in nowadays, purely because of the apparent left-handed discrimination.

Weirdly, my DN uses her cutlery the 'wrong way' despite being right handed & my DSis using it the 'right' way & also being right handed.

Now chewing with your mouth open or talking with a full mouth - they are hanging offences IMO!!

Op - YANBU. That is just darn odd...