Fork Etiquette

My husband finds cutting food with the side of the fork barbaric. I found this out when I was cutting my pancakes one morning.   

See, MY husband looked at that and went "that looks lazy..." and now he does it all the time. It was like an epiophone for him!

I eat with the fork in my right and the knife in my left... So opposite of correct, I guess! Unless I have something that HAS to be cut with a knife, I usually just use a fork anyway.

But one thing that really irks me is the way some folks over here hold their knife as if it's a pencil as opposed to handle in the palm and first finger on top. 

Yes! That does look very sloppy to me.
DH does have some strange eating habits -- like (en famille) stabbing a chunk of something with fork and then taking bites out of it. Same with a spoonful of ice cream -- eating it like a popsicle!  But that's just him, bless his cotton socks! 

Unless I have something that HAS to be cut with a knife, I usually just use a fork anyway.

That's me. It seems like extra work to have to push the food onto the fork for every bite. I figure if I am ever at some posh reception where absolute perfect etiquette is required, I am going to carry on as I always have. I know what the proper way of doing it is, and when some Queen, King or president of some country invites me to dinner I will act accordingly. For everyday eating I take the relaxed approach. Like I have mentioned before, I use good manners, get the food into my face 99.9% of the time, and that is good enough for me. I've never been the type to obsessively worry about what others think of  me. Since I am not doing something illegal, immoral or would cause my parents' way of raising me into question, I am happy being me.   Those who judge me for how I hold a fork should count their blessings if a stranger's eating habits in the restaurant they are in happens to be the worst of their worries, if that is all they can worry about at that moment.

I consider a meal a success when I can actually get it into my mouth and not all down the front of me like I usually do

I consider a meal a success when I can actually get it into my mouth and not all down the front of me like I usually do

  Amen! Between my dad and I, many a shirt has been lost to the cause.

How many of you have started eating chips (fries) with a fork without fail?  I know that I almost always considered it ok to pick them up with my hands in the States, but here it just seems to be looked down upon.  Although slathering chips in vinegar can put one off using the fingers and afterwards smelling like a fish-n-chip!

How many of you have started eating chips (fries) with a fork without fail?  I know that I almost always considered it ok to pick them up with my hands in the States, but here it just seems to be looked down upon.  Although slathering chips in vinegar can put one off using the fingers and afterwards smelling like a fish-n-chip!

You gotta have one of those little wooden 'forks' from the chippie 

I agree with other posters that your MIL was out of line to cause you grief in public about it. I eat with the fork in my left hand; although I do not "shovel" the food in my mouth with the knife. My friend from Brum came to visit on Christmas holidays and come to think of it, he did this. I am more of the type to take two bites, place my utensils down and take a sip of water and repeat. I am rather old fashioned that way. The chips thing though? That's funny. When I lived in France, I ate pizza with my hands while everyone cut theirs with a knife and fork. The same people who will bike home with a loaf of bread under their arm and no wrapping on it!

How many of you have started eating chips (fries) with a fork without fail?  I know that I almost always considered it ok to pick them up with my hands in the States, but here it just seems to be looked down upon.  Although slathering chips in vinegar can put one off using the fingers and afterwards smelling like a fish-n-chip!

I still view them as finger food.  I never can figure out if it is because I use my fingers or because of the massive amounts of ketchup I use, but when I publicly eat chips, it seems to cause the natives some grief. But again, I'm not in some ritzy situation so I eat them the way I am comfortable with. If I was eating chips with posh people at some extremely important do.. well, a situation like that probably wouldn't involve chips anyway, but I'd eat them with a fork then.

*gasp*
I am holding the utensils incorrectly and have to relearn at the age of 40 something?
somehow, I don't think I will change

I have an ex who is from eastern europe...former yugoslavian
At the table, each item of food is in it's own bowl/dish (per usual, but then it all goes sideways)
The bowls/dishes are passed around the table and the person will either eat straight from the bowl/dish or use their personal fork/spoon to extract the food.
There is not always a need to use bowls/dishes to put the food on and not uncommon to eat straight from the table.
I need to mention that using an actual utensil to retrieve food from the serving dish was not always required.
Fingers to grab food from the serving dish and thrust into one's mouth was quite common.
Let me not neglect to mention that a knife was in the same method as a fork ie, for grabbing food and shoving in the mouth.

To be honest, my mom beat table manners into me and though they may be southern and american, you will never catch me eating like a slob.
Holding a fork in a different hand does not qualify as bad manners.
The day I start eating from the same utensil which is used to serve or from the table or use greasy fingers to put salad in my bowl, THEN someone can say something to me.
Otherwise, don't watch.

You gotta have one of those little wooden 'forks' from the chippie 

Whenever I get fish and chips open (to eat straight away) now, even thorugh they have those little wooden forks they always give me a plastic fork, so now I wonder why they have those wooden ones!

Does anyone else feel that by eating the 'US' way, it takes a lot longer to clear your plate?

I learned to change my ways the first time I sat down with my future in-laws to eat dinner. They cleared their plates in less time than it took me to put down my knife and pick up my fork!

Granted, they all swoop in and eat like hyenas, but I do find that you can eat a lot faster by holding a knife and fork in each hand.

How do people manage without using a knife to push food onto their fork?  I find it incredibly difficult to eat rice in that way, for example, because I end up chasing it around the plate.

Does anyone else feel that by eating the 'US' way, it takes a lot longer to clear your plate?

I learned to change my ways the first time I sat down with my future in-laws to eat dinner. They cleared their plates in less time than it took me to put down my knife and pick up my fork!

Granted, they all swoop in and eat like hyenas, but I do find that you can eat a lot faster by holding a knife and fork in each hand.

I don't really view that as a positive thing! I am the slowest eater of everyone I know here, but I'm cool with that. It means I take my time, enjoy my food, and feel more easily when I'm full.

I don't really view that as a positive thing! I am the slowest eater of everyone I know here, but I'm cool with that. It means I take my time, enjoy my food, and feel more easily when I'm full.

Me, too! But it's very embarrassing to be sitting at a table full of people with finished plates, and you were still on your first few bites. It's really awkward.

I'd much rather eat slowly and enjoy myself at dinner, too ... so maybe my complaint is more with my inlaws than anything else!