To think this is very odd??(lighthearted)

[ftmtb]

(Lighthearted post to prove point to OH)

My OH only ever uses a fork not a knife?? No matter what he is eating he will only ever use a fork and thinks that's completely normal, he says I'm weird for using a knife ???

Please tell me that this is weird

I prefer using the fork only but I have a steak or I'm eating out, I am using a knife.
I only use my hands when I eat stuff like chicken wings or a sandwich with chips in a restaurant though. Cutting that with a knife would be ridiculous and using a fork with chicken wings would create plenty of mess. I'm pretty proficient with chop sticks too and love using them.

I always thought this was a country based thing. Brits use a knife and fork usually, my mum's South African friend told me that South Africans don't, they just cut and put the knife down, I noticed this is true of Americans and Brazilians too. I haven't analysed any other nationalities

Going to strongly disagree here. I am in SA, and I don't find that accurate. Knife and fork are very normal behaviour, in fact, if I were in a restaurant and saw fork only eating, I was be a bit surprized. I can only think that your mums friend is referring to when at a braai (bbq) where then, picking up the meat and getting stuck in, is then the normal. (Think meat on bone, chicken, ribs etc). In my cutlery drawer, I have two sections for knives, one are normal day to day ones, and the other are the steak knives (excluding chopping, slicing, dicing knives)

My dc eat burgers with a knife and fork if were are in a restaurant setting. Pretty normal behaviour.

But then again my mother always told me I was brought up by the queen. Yes mum, it must be true

(Hope this is still a lighthearted thread)......

Just posting a PA dig at fork snobs...

People who hold a knife in their hand while eating with a fork are uncouth greedy pigs trying to shovel food down their throat at an unreasonably fast rate. Or so a random American said on another site I'm on.

He is somewhat backed up by wikipedia.

Originally, the traditional European method, once the fork was adopted as a utensil, was to transfer the fork to the right hand after cutting food, as it had been considered proper for all utensils to be used with the right hand only. This tradition was brought to America by British colonists and is still in use in the United States. Europe adopted the more rapid style of eating in relatively modern times.

Crispbutty I just ate a jacket potato for lunch. There’s no way a fork alone would have cut through the skin. Do you only eat the insides of jacket potatoes?

Originally, the traditional European method, once the fork was adopted as a utensil, was to transfer the fork to the right hand after cutting food, as it had been considered proper for all utensils to be used with the right hand only. This tradition was brought to America by British colonists and is still in use in the United States. Europe adopted the more rapid style of eating in relatively modern times.

that was probably before toilet paper was invented

Fork only for things that can be eaten without needing proper cutting - for example, stew, casserole, pasta etc

Knife and fork for things that need to be cut - ie a steak with mash and veg - i'd cut a piece of steak and the right size of veg, impale both on the fork, then push some potato on top (and any sauce if applicable).

As a general rule i'd use a fork only when eating on the sofa, and knife and fork if at the table.

It's considered polite because it's a social norm, like not picking your nose mid-conversation or farting loudly in meetings. Why is anything considered "polite"? Because it's a social norm.

And I'm sorry but I would be a bit appalled by someone shovelling and stabbing their food at the dinner table

It's considered polite because it's a social norm
You mean like being heterosexual used to be a social norm, and being gay was considered appalling.

Social norms change, the sky doesn't fall in and young people wonder why older people conformed to such arbitrary trivialities.

@Julie8008 are you seriously comparing homosexuality to using a knife & fork??? Troll on my love, troll on.

I did this up until I was about 17 out of sheer laziness/ italian family ( not that Italians don’t use forks but you know)

What an absolutely ridiculous analogy Julie8008!

It is very american.

I most often just use a fork e.g. a bowl of pasta or curry or stew or something.

I never said I thought the sky would fall in by the way. I said that I personally would not enjoy sitting opposite someone spearing their food, sawing away at it with a fork and shovelling it into their mouths with a fork like that. By all means continue to do so, and allow me not to like it very much. Not run from the room screaming not like it, but certainly not enjoy watching it. If someone ate like that on a first date, for instance, it would be the last date.

No matter how much you protest that it's your right to eat as you wish - which of course it is - it is still considered polite in the uk to eat with a knife and fork, at least in company.

My ed has a personal no knife challenge going on. Every meal I give her a knife, and she sees if she can eat the meal without it. She manages most meals. The only one she really struggles with is steak.

If someone ate like that on a first date, for instance, it would be the last date.

This is exactly what I did! After 3 dates we decided to go for a meal where he (a) broke his bread roll up and put it in his soup (b) ordered gammon steak and proceeded to try and use his fork to cut it. When this didn't work he picked it up with his fingers. (c) used his fork like a shovel. (d) he called me posh when I suggested he may want to use his knife instead of eating the gammon streak with his fingers. I think he knew after that meal he wouldn't be seeing me again.

HATE it when people eat like this. Its lazy, common eating.

You is dead posh DragonsDead

Seriously, I agree. That would completely put me off on a date and it would be the last. I would avoid eating with a friend that ate like that. I know people will accuse me of being stuck up, but I reserve the right to not like it!

I am not trolling, this thread is light hearted and whilst I do not use a knife, unless I am buttering my bread, I do have my tongue-in- cheek between 'shovelfuls'.

DragonsDen
(a) I would have said it was normal to put bread in soup.

(b) Would never order gammon.
(c) I use my fork like a delicate silver precision shovel, always get it in my mouth 100% of the time & no crumbs fall by the wayside.
(d) I would dump anyone who tried to tell me how to eat, its very rude.

I was once told by a very senior partner in large legal firm that if they had two very close candidates and they went for lunch afterwards that the one with the better manners would get the job.

I bet that involves using a knife!

I hate seeing someone leaning their weight onto the plate to try and saw through the meat with the side of a fork.

Forks are only for stabbing and holding food, not cutting or scooping.

Also chopsticks all the way for noodles, sushi, stir fry etc.
All my children can use them as although it’s not an essential life skill it quite often takes peoples interest if you are the only one in the group who can use chopsticks properly.

Do you not order things that need cutting up then?

Do you not order things that need cutting up then?

lol seriously as well as holding a knife in one hand when you are eating you also have to line food up in the correct order to get a job in a law firm? The Queen really has my respect for the hard job she must do.

lol seriously as well as holding a knife in one hand when you are eating you also have to line food up in the correct order to get a job in a law firm? The Queen really has my respect for the hard job she must do.

The point I was trying to make was that even when we are not aware of it, good manners can have a major impact on our lives.

As the saying goes ‘good manners cost nothing’.

I will add that good manners are not exclusively reserved for eating

I had a boyfriend who did this, He said he couldnt use a knife,
It was the limit when we had a carvery meal with some friends and he started to rip his meat apart with his fingers

Pinkponiesrock
I completely agree and happen to believe I have very good manners. I just disagree that holding a knife in one hand = good manners, however I am well aware that some people think it is.

Job interviews are determined on many things, but it should be on the basis of ability to do the job not on which bit of cutlery you use, your accent, if you pinky is in the air when you drink tea, where you are from or if you are from a 'good' family.

If there is nothing between two candidates, the same qualifications, similar experience etc then I think more minor points would come into play.

How on earth can someone cut up meat without a knife? I can’t imagine having a business lunch and watching the other person trying to dissect their lunch with a fork, I wouldn’t be able to think about anything else.