Emigrating has generally been a very, very complicated and difficult task, but by far the hardest aspect has been relearning how to use a knife and fork.

Reply to Emigrating has generally been a very, very complicated and difficult task, but by far the hardest aspect has been relearning how to use a knife and fork. on Sat, 01 Aug 2026 09:29:09 GMT

jwcph@helvede.net — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 09:29:09 GMT

@hacks4pancakes It's also how you can tell when an American actor is playing an Englishman while Downey does cut his food with the knife in his right hand in this clip, it would be unusual in the extreme to see a non-American adult put their food in their mouth with this weird fork grip https://youtu.be/388-rOzD9SM?si=o_q051bexJXzCJtS&t=239

Americans appear to be far more likely than most other people to hold their fork vertically, like a microphone they're about to sing into, when putting food in their mouth.

Reply to Emigrating has generally been a very, very complicated and difficult task, but by far the hardest aspect has been relearning how to use a knife and fork. on Sat, 01 Aug 2026 09:29:08 GMT

kristinhenry@vis.social — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 09:29:08 GMT

@tanyakaroli @hacks4pancakes It certainly slows down eating things that require cutting with a knife while held with a fork.

Reply to Emigrating has generally been a very, very complicated and difficult task, but by far the hardest aspect has been relearning how to use a knife and fork. on Sat, 01 Aug 2026 09:21:10 GMT

denny@boing.world — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 09:21:10 GMT

@hacks4pancakes I eat like this, and I am not American nor raised by one. I makes more sense to me - I'm right-handed, so I want to hold the most active implement in my right hand. I don't get why we're taught to use our less coordinated hand to hold a pointy stick that we're about to wave near our face.

Reply to Emigrating has generally been a very, very complicated and difficult task, but by far the hardest aspect has been relearning how to use a knife and fork. on Sat, 01 Aug 2026 09:20:32 GMT

not2b@sfba.social — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 09:20:32 GMT

@hacks4pancakes I am a left handed American, and I use the most efficient approach for me: fork in left hand, no switching. The "right" way was pointed out to me when I was young and I just ignored it. I suggest just continuing to use the style of eating you grew up with. People might notice and figure out where you are from, but they will catch on to that anyway.

Reply to Emigrating has generally been a very, very complicated and difficult task, but by far the hardest aspect has been relearning how to use a knife and fork. on Sat, 01 Aug 2026 09:13:23 GMT

cford@toot.thoughtworks.com — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 09:13:23 GMT

@hacks4pancakes Wow, I'd ignorantly interpreted switching fork hands as a lack of "correct" dining etiquette, someone choosing to use their dominant right and instead of the "correct" left one.

Reply to Emigrating has generally been a very, very complicated and difficult task, but by far the hardest aspect has been relearning how to use a knife and fork. on Sat, 01 Aug 2026 09:12:39 GMT

oheso@ieji.de — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 09:12:39 GMT

@hacks4pancakes @catsalad I’ve met people who eat this way and I marvel.

Reply to Emigrating has generally been a very, very complicated and difficult task, but by far the hardest aspect has been relearning how to use a knife and fork. on Sat, 01 Aug 2026 09:07:46 GMT

recantha@mastodon.social — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 09:07:46 GMT

@hacks4pancakes No kidding! I did not know that.

Reply to Emigrating has generally been a very, very complicated and difficult task, but by far the hardest aspect has been relearning how to use a knife and fork. on Sat, 01 Aug 2026 09:03:42 GMT

jbaggs@infosec.exchange — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 09:03:42 GMT

@aj @loke @hacks4pancakes Left handed USian here. Left hand fork, tines down. Right hand knife, no switching. ¯\(ツ)/¯

Reply to Emigrating has generally been a very, very complicated and difficult task, but by far the hardest aspect has been relearning how to use a knife and fork. on Sat, 01 Aug 2026 09:03:09 GMT

dey@mastodon.social — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 09:03:09 GMT

@hacks4pancakes as someone who went through ups and downs myself, people accept you as a foreigner trying and then you accept to yourself (harder) that you are a foreigner trying as well. It takes a few years. I use knife on left hand fork on right. If someone has a comment I reply I am left handed only when eating (i am not)

Reply to Emigrating has generally been a very, very complicated and difficult task, but by far the hardest aspect has been relearning how to use a knife and fork. on Sat, 01 Aug 2026 08:59:44 GMT

nickapos@mastodon.oncrete.uk — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 08:59:44 GMT

@hacks4pancakes In a world with so many problems it is really weird that people pay attention to how other people use fork and knife.

Reply to Emigrating has generally been a very, very complicated and difficult task, but by far the hardest aspect has been relearning how to use a knife and fork. on Sat, 01 Aug 2026 08:58:10 GMT

lianna@micro.webgarden.click — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 08:58:10 GMT

@hacks4pancakes I asked my American friends about this and none of them ever heard about this...? All of them eat with fork in let hand, knife in right hand, as they were taught.

Reply to Emigrating has generally been a very, very complicated and difficult task, but by far the hardest aspect has been relearning how to use a knife and fork. on Sat, 01 Aug 2026 08:57:07 GMT

oddtail@meow.social — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 08:57:07 GMT

@hacks4pancakes

"So every time you cut something you set the fork down and switch hands, then switch back."

What the eff... is that real? That can't be real xD

Reply to Emigrating has generally been a very, very complicated and difficult task, but by far the hardest aspect has been relearning how to use a knife and fork. on Sat, 01 Aug 2026 08:56:24 GMT

milomb@infosec.exchange — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 08:56:24 GMT

@hacks4pancakes so while raised in US with some emphasis on table manners, I was unaware of the formal zigzag US thing.

I wonder if that’s because we weren’t “high-falutin’” enough or if because I’m from an area that was heavily German immigrant in makeup (central Pennsylvania)

Reply to Emigrating has generally been a very, very complicated and difficult task, but by far the hardest aspect has been relearning how to use a knife and fork. on Sat, 01 Aug 2026 08:55:53 GMT

endlessmason@hachyderm.io — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 08:55:53 GMT

@bradr @hacks4pancakes
The first step is to make sure you're in a place with a pun in its name like "Thaitanic" or "Thai one on"

Reply to Emigrating has generally been a very, very complicated and difficult task, but by far the hardest aspect has been relearning how to use a knife and fork. on Sat, 01 Aug 2026 08:54:21 GMT

pdcawley@mendeddrum.org — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 08:54:21 GMT

@afx @hacks4pancakes The catch is, Amercan style is rather slower than European style, so you could well end up being the last one still eating (and by quite some margin). I’ve certainly noticed, when visiting the States that I’m often the first one finished when I thought I was eating pretty slowly. Which is its own kind of embarrassing

Reply to Emigrating has generally been a very, very complicated and difficult task, but by far the hardest aspect has been relearning how to use a knife and fork. on Sat, 01 Aug 2026 08:53:24 GMT

billyjoebowers@mastodon.online — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 08:53:24 GMT

@hacks4pancakes

It's weird how I can totally know that in retrospect, but if you had asked me I wouldn't have been able to tell you without seeing it.

Reply to Emigrating has generally been a very, very complicated and difficult task, but by far the hardest aspect has been relearning how to use a knife and fork. on Sat, 01 Aug 2026 08:52:06 GMT

hacks4pancakes@infosec.exchange — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 08:52:06 GMT

@billyjoebowers the fork is in their left hand and their forefinger is against the back

Reply to Emigrating has generally been a very, very complicated and difficult task, but by far the hardest aspect has been relearning how to use a knife and fork. on Sat, 01 Aug 2026 08:51:47 GMT

peterb@mas.to — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 08:51:47 GMT

@hacks4pancakes growing up, my parents insisted strictly on French table manners (the modern version).
At 18, living in the UK, I had a crush on a (posh) girl, who insisted I not shovel my food- causing me to switch to UK table manners.
At 40 I moved to Boston and learnt quickly how uncivilised my table manners were - so I switched over to those.
These days I combine them all at will, to the great grief of all present.

Reply to Emigrating has generally been a very, very complicated and difficult task, but by far the hardest aspect has been relearning how to use a knife and fork. on Sat, 01 Aug 2026 08:50:45 GMT

hacks4pancakes@infosec.exchange — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 08:50:45 GMT

@gurumeditation only USasian

Reply to Emigrating has generally been a very, very complicated and difficult task, but by far the hardest aspect has been relearning how to use a knife and fork. on Sat, 01 Aug 2026 08:50:13 GMT

billyjoebowers@mastodon.online — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 08:50:13 GMT

@hacks4pancakes

Oh, I never knew this. I do remember being told it was the right way to do it, but I thought it also had to do with just being right handed.

Now I realize that I have noticed some Europeans in movies and thought something was odd but couldn't put my finger on it.

Reply to Emigrating has generally been a very, very complicated and difficult task, but by far the hardest aspect has been relearning how to use a knife and fork. on Sat, 01 Aug 2026 08:49:21 GMT

hacks4pancakes@infosec.exchange — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 08:49:21 GMT

@aj @loke I am not, alas

Reply to Emigrating has generally been a very, very complicated and difficult task, but by far the hardest aspect has been relearning how to use a knife and fork. on Sat, 01 Aug 2026 08:48:09 GMT

hacks4pancakes@infosec.exchange — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 08:48:09 GMT

@shadowwwind how posh!

Reply to Emigrating has generally been a very, very complicated and difficult task, but by far the hardest aspect has been relearning how to use a knife and fork. on Sat, 01 Aug 2026 08:47:32 GMT

shadowwwind@mastodon.social — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 08:47:32 GMT

@hacks4pancakes German here, I was raised with the switcheroo and I think almost everyone does it here

Reply to Emigrating has generally been a very, very complicated and difficult task, but by far the hardest aspect has been relearning how to use a knife and fork. on Sat, 01 Aug 2026 08:47:09 GMT

tanyakaroli@expressional.social — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 08:47:09 GMT

@kristinHenry ah, I see that this process slows down eating substantially. That could have good health benefits (whereas I wolf down my food, which apparently is not good for you). Interesting, thanks!
@hacks4pancakes