Calling all lefties !!!

[MummyMayo1988]

AMBU to say DH is wrong?!

Ok so my DH and I have been having this argument forever!
I am a leftie and he is right handed. Two of our DC are also right handed (third is only 6 months and still undecided).
I hold my fork in LEFT hand and knife in RIGHT hand - argument being that you do more with your dominant hand and therefore the fork should be in it.
He also holds fork in LEFT hand - arguing you do more with the KNIFE and therefore it should be in dominant hand.
Who is right?!
I'd like to also add that we have recently discovered that DC1 (right-handed) holds fork in RIGHT hand. We asked him why and his exact words were - because you do more with the fork and it should be in RIGHT hand.

According to a study DH found online; around 75% of lefties hold fork in LEFT hand too 🤷‍♀️

Any lefties out there do the same?!
Or am I and DC1 - according to DH - completely bonkers?! 😜

Please help us put this to bed MN! This lefty needs your help!

❤

You are both right - do whatever you are comfortable with!

I am right handed, so have fork in left hand so dominant hand does the dextrous bit (cutting)

But it doesn't matter at all who does what with whatever hand

2 lefties and 2 righties in my family. We all hold our fork in our left hand as that is correct. If eating soup with a spoon however then lefties use left hand and righties use right.

Leftie here, hold fork in left hand for same reason as you.
Righties husband and DD also hold fork in left hand though.

Left handed here. Hold fork in left and knife in right. Parent made a big deal of left handed scissors etc when I started school however adapted to right handed and everything else with no difficulty. Except some smudged ink in birthday cards

I’m right handed although weirdly I favour left hand dominant methods for things like knitting

I know it’s “wrong” but I have my fork in my right hand, knife in my left. I started out using them the right way round but at some point switched as I struggled the “right” way. It feels completely wrong to have my fork in my left hand, so I don’t.

Left handed. Fork in left hand, knife in right. If I'm just using a knife though I hold it in my left hand. It would never occur to me to hold a fork in my right hand - I'd end up stabbing myself in the face!

I’m left handed and when using a knife and fork use the fork in my left and knife in my right. If just using a fork or spoon I use my left.

YANBU as you do what I do but your husband is right as well!

My Dsis and I are both lefties. We both hold our fork in our left hand and knife in our right.

Thank you MN'ers 😊 you have been a tremendous help!
I am not bonkers! It just comes down to preference!
Am now wondering if it's a generational thing as in there are far fewer lefties and right handed was preferred 🤷‍♀️
My granddad was also a leftie but I remember him telling me how his teachers tried to force him to write with his right hand.
Why is that?! What difference does it make?!
I'm quite proud to be a lefty and am secretly hoping DC3 will be too. Altho - of course - I'll love him no matter what 🤞🏻😂

Hubby still saying I'm wrong tho 🙄😂

YANBU, I'm also a lefty who holds their fork in their left hand. As you correctly say, you do more work with it so you need your dominant hand. My DH and 2 DC are both RH, and hold their forks in their Right, so you and I are correct, forks are hold in your dominant hand!

I’m a leftie and same as you, fork in left hand.

I hold my fork in my left hand and knife in the right. I have a right handed mother, presumed she had taught me her way.

In the US they start the same as us then they switch the fork to their right hand once they have done their cutting up. What a palaver.

It does seem that UK etiquette is actually set up to be better for Lefties, which I am all for. There isn't much out there that works better for us by default.

I like that I can flip my fork over if I fancy turning it into a spoon at any moment.

I'm ambidextrous (sp?) I hold fork in right knife in left BUT I carve meat with both hands so I can use a knife in either

Lefty here and fork in left hand but I was brought up with that being the correct way despite my dad doing the opposite but he is a righty (and obviously didn’t listen to his mum and dad) Husband and daughter righties too and they have fork in right hand.
Buttering bread and cutting food where I’m not using a knife and the knife will then be in my left hand.
Do all other lefties wear bags on their left shoulders like me? And do you put your belts on your trousers with the buckle on the right? I can’t have a belt going the other way.

Left handed and never occurred to me their was a right or wrong way/hand to hold fork/knife. Well I never.

I'm a leftie and DS2 is a leftie, we both hold cutlery left fork/right knife, DH and DS1 right handed and hold cutlery right/fork left knife - I blame myself for going back to work before teaching DS1 right from wrong 😉 according to DH's charming BIL, DH and DS1 are peasants.

lefty, fork/spoon always in left, butter/chop using knives with left, cut with knife ond fork with right but im not very good at it, i more hold the food down wit hthe fork in left and hack at it.

I do the same as you as a leftie and so do my children both lefties

There is logic behind holding your knife in your dominant hand - it's generally stronger and has better fine motor skills and carving up a hunk of meat on the bone takes strength and fine motor skills. On the other hand, that is less relevant in modern society as meat is much more tender and rarely served as a leathery hunk with bones, fat and gristle Plus as we teach our kids to eat with a knife and fork from a young age, so they develop the skills necessary whichever hand they use. DS is left handed but he uses scissors right handed (and can't do it at all left handed, even with proper left handed scissors) because he hadn't developed a preference when he first learnt to use them in nursery.

Wasn't the fork in left and knife in right hand rule due to meals generally being meat and two veg type things, so you'd hold the meat in place with the fork and use your dominant hand to do the cutting. Which would more likely be the right hand (about 90% of people are right handed I think).

But now we eat a much more varied diet, with things like curry and rice, or pasta, then it makes sense now you hold your fork in your dominant hand as these types of meals don't need you to do much with the knife.

I'm left handed and always hold the fork in my left hand, mainly because most of the meals I eat don't need much knife action.

I'm a righty and hold my fork in my left hand, as it's the correct way. Although as a child I naturally used them the American way.

Well my son is right handed and holds his fork in his right hand

I used to try and make him hold it in his left hand. He's my first and I didn't know there were preferences for this, just thought you were supposed to all hold it in the left and that was the proper way etc... He found it really really hard though so now we've embraced the right handed fork and left handed knife scenario! He's much happier that way! I just have to remember when I'm setting the table, to put his cutlery the other way round!!

I'm a lefty and hold my fork in my left hand... but was taught this was 'correct'.

On the other hand my brother is also a lefty (both parents right handed, what are the odds?!) and holds his fork in his right hand.

However I do find the downside of holding the knife and fork the 'correct' way is that I'm kind of accustomed to it and I cannot carve to save my life. Somehow I have enough dexterity to eat but not enough to slice meat Makes sense to me because if I'm chopping for cooking I use the knife in my left hand. If I try to carve meat I keep the sharp knife in my right hand and put the carving fork in my right but it feels wrong

I'm a leftie and I eat fork left, knife right - convention I guess. But if I'm using only a fork, or only a knife I use my left.
I read somewhere once that left handed people are more likely to be ambidextrous than righthanded people and I think that's because we're more often forced/persuaded to swap from our dominant hand to the other by the world around us. I peel veg, iron and use scissors with my right hand because they were all righthanded versions when I was growing up (these days all potato peelers seem to be universal but I still use my right out of habit).
It's a useful skill though - I chop wood with my left until tired then swap to the other hand and carry on, same with using a paint brush.