To ask how you use a fork?

[KakunaMatata]

Slight disagreement in Kakuna towers this evening. One of us is using our fork as a shovel, the other spearing food. It's jacket potato and salad.

Which one of us is a feral animal? How do you fork?

Another right hand forker

I spear and shovel and never onto the outside of the curve of fork.
For some reason whenever I see someone gathering their food onto the outside of the curve of the fork I think they're very middle class and a bit poncy.

If you ever dine at Buckingham Palace, spear, don't shovel.

Food should never be shovelled with a fork!

DH does the "spear a bit of everything onto the back of your fork with your knife".

DH was clearly brought up correctly.

You'll be telling me you hold your knife like a pen next.

I've always used my right hand and I've noticed dcs do as well

Tines up tines up tines up!

Apparently I eat in the hybrid style according to Wikipedia.
A cross between the hidden handle method of the European and the American styles.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eating_utensil_etiquette

Trying to balance peas on a convex surface is ludicrous. Forks were developed with their curved shape so it could be used to scoop food, as well as spear.

I say sporks are overdue some recognition.

If you're using a knife and fork, you hold the fork in your left hand, spear and balance things precariously on the back of the tines. If you're only using a fork, you hold it in your right hand and shovel.

You can't eat a jacket potato with just a fork unless you leave the skin or pick it up with your hands and chew it at the end. Leaving the skin of a jacket is a worse sin than anything you can do with the cutlery.

Always spear, never shovel. even for peas (use some other food / sauce to make it easier). But ever, ever shovel.

Shovelling is only acceptable in the American way - by laying down your knife and transferring the fork to the right hand ( after cutting all your food up in advance)

I eat my peas with honey
I've done it all my life
It makes them taste quite funny
But it keeps them on the knife

SPEAR!!! Dammit!!!

Although this evening, I had an appetite for the first time in 21 weeks (pregnant) and I "American'd" my mashed potato with leek and red wine gravy.

My ex bf used to pile as much food onto his fork as possible and shove it into his mouth like one of those snakes with expanding jaws. In his defence though he came from an impoverished Catholic family that had to fight for food at every meal time

Forks don't bother me as much as my friend who licks her knife

I'm hybrid too, putting food on the back of the fork defies logic, surely it's curved for a reason!
I do sometime eat American style, shovel it in with fork on right but only if the dish requires only a fork/spoon and nothing to cut.

I can't abide anyone (in my family) using a fork as a shovel.

Tines are down, knives are never held like pens and cutlery is placed on the plate periodically during the meal

Meal times are a JOY with me, I tell you.

We have just spent 3 weeks in a very swanky part of America and had many meals out at vair posh places but still we had cause to secretly judge the Americans' atrocious cutlery cack-handedness

Spear is British, shovel is American - or at least that was the case 40 years ago.

Using my fork as a shovel at his parents' house was once cited as a reason for being dumped by and ex bf many many years ago.

I'm now married to an American 😀

The American way is the logical way. Illogical table manners can go hang. Licking knives is not acceptable on any continent though; I don't want to see tongue.

Not only do I shovel but I also never heard the word 'tines' until now. I never imagined myself to be middle class but the more I read on here the more relieved I am to be common. I just want to get my food from plate to mouth as efficiently as possible, not twat around defying logic and gravity with peas on the back of my fork

Does it even matter?

KittensForBreakfast

If we only discussed things that "matter" this place would be very quiet.

Does it even matter?

Yes, yes it very much matters.
Use your knife and fork incorrectly and it is only a matter of time until you are picking your children up from school in a onesie.
It's standards, we must maintain standards.
How long has it been since you last gave your front step a good donkey stoning I wonder?
only half joking