Serviettes. Did I ask for something strange?

[ALongHardWinter]

There were no serviettes on the stand for sauces,straws etc so I asked the server for some. He gave me a funny look and said 'Some what?' I repeated my request but he still looked blank. So I said 'Tissues?'. He said 'Oh right. I've never heard them called serviettes'. Really? That's what I've always called them. Anyone else encountered a blank look when asking for a supposedly common place item?

So to throw a spanner in the works, I once worked with guy who always laughed when I used the word serviette as he said in his country the word means sanitary towel!!! I now only ask for a napkin or paper towel!

Try asking in a diy or homewares shop for mothballs then! :-)

Oh, do tell about the mothballs (I fear I could use some!).

I’m not really sure what I call them. But would know if someone asked for either serviette or napkins what you wanted.

Checked with my 12 year old too - doesn't know what serviette is!!

Jilly Cooper said she’d rather her kids said fuck than serviette.

I remember someone saying that people referred to them as serviettes as napkins in the U.S. referred to sanitary towels, and was also similar to nappies. I would refer to them as paper napkins.

In the US, napkins means paper or cloth table napkins. "Sanitary napkins" is a term for sanitary pads, but it's not really used much anymore.

Serviette is wrong. Jilly was right.

Jilly Cooper said she’d rather her kids said fuck than serviette

Ha!!

I'd rather my dd said serviette than read a Jilly Cooper novel.
Also paper serviette,cloth napkin here.Only learned they were napkins because her friends family used napkin rings.I thought it was a bit gross as the napkins were put back into n the rings for the next time.

I’d say serviettes is the more formal linen type!

Say what? Tissues? Tissues are paper hankies. Not for the dining table.
Serviettes are paper napkins.
Love these threads.
Friend genuinely asked me if she should leave her husband who insisted on saying 'toilet' rather than lavatory to their young child.

DD once exploded her nose on the head of another child in a French swimming pool. As the blood spread through the water and families began to scatter, screaming, in a scene reminiscent of Jaws, the lifeguard scooped her out and shouted, “Serviette!” to me. The blood was pumping furiously and I was a little in shock, but I stopped and looked at him as though he was daft, thinking, there’s no way a serviette will stem that flow.

Towel. It means towel. She needed a towel round her.

Perhaps your chap speaks French and was wondering why you needed a towel in McDonalds.

Apparently, the correct term is always napkin and these can be made of paper or cloth.

www.theroyalbutler.co.uk/single-post/2016/03/22/The-Etiquette-of-the-Napkin-v-Serviette

I’m on the paper ones are serviettes and linen ones are napkins team.

I was always taught that serviettes were the thin paper ones and napkins were the cloth/ linen ones.

This was 45 years ago and paper ones have improved greatly, mimicking the cloth ones.

Probably why people get them mixed up now.

Serviette in French can refer to a sanitary towel. I wondered why my daughter's French exchange girl blushed when I said it

ALongHardWinter
the bloke probably should have known all the things people call the bits of paper as it's his job but maybe he was new.

Napkins vs Serviettes is a big snobby argument.

My elderly aunt born circa 18 century probably supped with Jane Austin... said:
Napkins are what we put on our laps and can be made of linen or cotton. Paper will suffice if necessary.

Serviettes - like the French word - are towels the waiter carries and have nothing to do with napkins. So if you want to sound posh you don't call your paper thing a serviette, it's a paper napkin.

Personally I think it's a snob thing and you can call it anything you like so long as it works! I have started using a roll of loo paper to wipe up spills, mouths, noses as well as bums. Kitchen roll is ok but a bit sore on the face. Hence when out having tea my GCs say "Granny have you any loo-roll?"
Aunty spins in her grave....

It is not snobbish to use the term paper napkin. It is correct.

Language evolves as does its usage. I think these are becoming rather dated markers along with Mrs John Smith being correct in all circumstances.

My DC have attended schools which are amongst the most well known in the land. They would deem it inconsequential and if commented on to make simeone feel small theyvwould judge the person commenting and think them the most ill mannered.

It's sometimes helpful to know these things but knowing them isn't as important as being honest and kind and good to be around. I know many true Us who simply aren't and they are judged more harshly.

"Serviette" is terribly infra dig. It is on a par with "settee" and "lounge".

I’ve always said serviette!

it is not snobbish to use the term paper napkin

But it is snobbish to look down on those who say serviette.

I'm not even sure what I say, serviette I think, although I might only use serviette for paper and napkin for cloth, I think.

If I understand housewife correctly, settee and lounge is seen as 'low class' but to me those words sound like people are trying to be posh about sofas and living rooms