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.
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I thought everyone knew this but ....
Neurodivergent story time!In the era of French aristocracy, American culture was just starting to get posh. And Americans (colonists then citizens) at the time decided great high class table manners meant copying high French fashion. So they adopted this weird "zig zag" method of eating where we only eat with the fork in our right hands facing up like you'd scoop food, but also only use the knife in our right hands. So every time you cut something you set the fork down and switch hands, then switch back. We can't eat with a fork in our left hand (if we were raised with strict table manners that don't care about handedness).
America did that big revolution and our big freedom thing and never switched back. The rest of the world moved on to knife in the right hand, fork in the left turned downward whilst cutting stuff.
You can always tell an American while eating by how we use the knife and fork. It's how they caught spies in WWII. Turns out it is incredibly hard to relearn XD
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.
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@hacks4pancakes Later I'll be eating somewhere likely to feature Americans, and I shall be using this information to sleuth. Now, in this case, does American == north American, or USian? How do Canadians use cutlery?
@gurumeditation only USasian
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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. It's way harder than accents or driving on the other side of the road.
@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.
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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.
@billyjoebowers the fork is in their left hand and their forefinger is against the back
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@billyjoebowers the fork is in their left hand and their forefinger is against the back
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.
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@hacks4pancakes Please, don't follow whatever some silly historic idea demands. Use what feels natural to you.
I am right handed, so the equipment that does the most delicate and demanding tasks (the fork) stays in the right hand.
@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
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My family moved from California to Bangkok when I was a kid, and I was fascinated that everyone there used the same familiar forks and spoons, but in a completely different way (no cross, and no table knives).
Being able to flip between silverware eating styles is like being bilingual. Surprisingly easy for kids, surprisingly hard for adults.
@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" -
I thought everyone knew this but ....
Neurodivergent story time!In the era of French aristocracy, American culture was just starting to get posh. And Americans (colonists then citizens) at the time decided great high class table manners meant copying high French fashion. So they adopted this weird "zig zag" method of eating where we only eat with the fork in our right hands facing up like you'd scoop food, but also only use the knife in our right hands. So every time you cut something you set the fork down and switch hands, then switch back. We can't eat with a fork in our left hand (if we were raised with strict table manners that don't care about handedness).
America did that big revolution and our big freedom thing and never switched back. The rest of the world moved on to knife in the right hand, fork in the left turned downward whilst cutting stuff.
You can always tell an American while eating by how we use the knife and fork. It's how they caught spies in WWII. Turns out it is incredibly hard to relearn XD
@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) -
I thought everyone knew this but ....
Neurodivergent story time!In the era of French aristocracy, American culture was just starting to get posh. And Americans (colonists then citizens) at the time decided great high class table manners meant copying high French fashion. So they adopted this weird "zig zag" method of eating where we only eat with the fork in our right hands facing up like you'd scoop food, but also only use the knife in our right hands. So every time you cut something you set the fork down and switch hands, then switch back. We can't eat with a fork in our left hand (if we were raised with strict table manners that don't care about handedness).
America did that big revolution and our big freedom thing and never switched back. The rest of the world moved on to knife in the right hand, fork in the left turned downward whilst cutting stuff.
You can always tell an American while eating by how we use the knife and fork. It's how they caught spies in WWII. Turns out it is incredibly hard to relearn XD
"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
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I thought everyone knew this but ....
Neurodivergent story time!In the era of French aristocracy, American culture was just starting to get posh. And Americans (colonists then citizens) at the time decided great high class table manners meant copying high French fashion. So they adopted this weird "zig zag" method of eating where we only eat with the fork in our right hands facing up like you'd scoop food, but also only use the knife in our right hands. So every time you cut something you set the fork down and switch hands, then switch back. We can't eat with a fork in our left hand (if we were raised with strict table manners that don't care about handedness).
America did that big revolution and our big freedom thing and never switched back. The rest of the world moved on to knife in the right hand, fork in the left turned downward whilst cutting stuff.
You can always tell an American while eating by how we use the knife and fork. It's how they caught spies in WWII. Turns out it is incredibly hard to relearn XD
@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.
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I thought everyone knew this but ....
Neurodivergent story time!In the era of French aristocracy, American culture was just starting to get posh. And Americans (colonists then citizens) at the time decided great high class table manners meant copying high French fashion. So they adopted this weird "zig zag" method of eating where we only eat with the fork in our right hands facing up like you'd scoop food, but also only use the knife in our right hands. So every time you cut something you set the fork down and switch hands, then switch back. We can't eat with a fork in our left hand (if we were raised with strict table manners that don't care about handedness).
America did that big revolution and our big freedom thing and never switched back. The rest of the world moved on to knife in the right hand, fork in the left turned downward whilst cutting stuff.
You can always tell an American while eating by how we use the knife and fork. It's how they caught spies in WWII. Turns out it is incredibly hard to relearn XD
@hacks4pancakes In a world with so many problems it is really weird that people pay attention to how other people use fork and knife.
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I thought everyone knew this but ....
Neurodivergent story time!In the era of French aristocracy, American culture was just starting to get posh. And Americans (colonists then citizens) at the time decided great high class table manners meant copying high French fashion. So they adopted this weird "zig zag" method of eating where we only eat with the fork in our right hands facing up like you'd scoop food, but also only use the knife in our right hands. So every time you cut something you set the fork down and switch hands, then switch back. We can't eat with a fork in our left hand (if we were raised with strict table manners that don't care about handedness).
America did that big revolution and our big freedom thing and never switched back. The rest of the world moved on to knife in the right hand, fork in the left turned downward whilst cutting stuff.
You can always tell an American while eating by how we use the knife and fork. It's how they caught spies in WWII. Turns out it is incredibly hard to relearn XD
@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)
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@loke @hacks4pancakes I thought that there was a rule that left-handed people can use the opposite hands.
So left-hand knife, right-hand fork.
And Hacks, I vaguely recall a post from ages ago where you mentioned you're left handed?
So you might have an out there?@aj @loke @hacks4pancakes Left handed USian here. Left hand fork, tines down. Right hand knife, no switching. ¯\(ツ)/¯
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I thought everyone knew this but ....
Neurodivergent story time!In the era of French aristocracy, American culture was just starting to get posh. And Americans (colonists then citizens) at the time decided great high class table manners meant copying high French fashion. So they adopted this weird "zig zag" method of eating where we only eat with the fork in our right hands facing up like you'd scoop food, but also only use the knife in our right hands. So every time you cut something you set the fork down and switch hands, then switch back. We can't eat with a fork in our left hand (if we were raised with strict table manners that don't care about handedness).
America did that big revolution and our big freedom thing and never switched back. The rest of the world moved on to knife in the right hand, fork in the left turned downward whilst cutting stuff.
You can always tell an American while eating by how we use the knife and fork. It's how they caught spies in WWII. Turns out it is incredibly hard to relearn XD
@hacks4pancakes No kidding! I did not know that.
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I thought everyone knew this but ....
Neurodivergent story time!In the era of French aristocracy, American culture was just starting to get posh. And Americans (colonists then citizens) at the time decided great high class table manners meant copying high French fashion. So they adopted this weird "zig zag" method of eating where we only eat with the fork in our right hands facing up like you'd scoop food, but also only use the knife in our right hands. So every time you cut something you set the fork down and switch hands, then switch back. We can't eat with a fork in our left hand (if we were raised with strict table manners that don't care about handedness).
America did that big revolution and our big freedom thing and never switched back. The rest of the world moved on to knife in the right hand, fork in the left turned downward whilst cutting stuff.
You can always tell an American while eating by how we use the knife and fork. It's how they caught spies in WWII. Turns out it is incredibly hard to relearn XD
@hacks4pancakes @catsalad I’ve met people who eat this way and I marvel.
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I thought everyone knew this but ....
Neurodivergent story time!In the era of French aristocracy, American culture was just starting to get posh. And Americans (colonists then citizens) at the time decided great high class table manners meant copying high French fashion. So they adopted this weird "zig zag" method of eating where we only eat with the fork in our right hands facing up like you'd scoop food, but also only use the knife in our right hands. So every time you cut something you set the fork down and switch hands, then switch back. We can't eat with a fork in our left hand (if we were raised with strict table manners that don't care about handedness).
America did that big revolution and our big freedom thing and never switched back. The rest of the world moved on to knife in the right hand, fork in the left turned downward whilst cutting stuff.
You can always tell an American while eating by how we use the knife and fork. It's how they caught spies in WWII. Turns out it is incredibly hard to relearn XD
@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.
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I thought everyone knew this but ....
Neurodivergent story time!In the era of French aristocracy, American culture was just starting to get posh. And Americans (colonists then citizens) at the time decided great high class table manners meant copying high French fashion. So they adopted this weird "zig zag" method of eating where we only eat with the fork in our right hands facing up like you'd scoop food, but also only use the knife in our right hands. So every time you cut something you set the fork down and switch hands, then switch back. We can't eat with a fork in our left hand (if we were raised with strict table manners that don't care about handedness).
America did that big revolution and our big freedom thing and never switched back. The rest of the world moved on to knife in the right hand, fork in the left turned downward whilst cutting stuff.
You can always tell an American while eating by how we use the knife and fork. It's how they caught spies in WWII. Turns out it is incredibly hard to relearn XD
@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.
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I thought everyone knew this but ....
Neurodivergent story time!In the era of French aristocracy, American culture was just starting to get posh. And Americans (colonists then citizens) at the time decided great high class table manners meant copying high French fashion. So they adopted this weird "zig zag" method of eating where we only eat with the fork in our right hands facing up like you'd scoop food, but also only use the knife in our right hands. So every time you cut something you set the fork down and switch hands, then switch back. We can't eat with a fork in our left hand (if we were raised with strict table manners that don't care about handedness).
America did that big revolution and our big freedom thing and never switched back. The rest of the world moved on to knife in the right hand, fork in the left turned downward whilst cutting stuff.
You can always tell an American while eating by how we use the knife and fork. It's how they caught spies in WWII. Turns out it is incredibly hard to relearn XD
@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.
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@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@tanyakaroli @hacks4pancakes It certainly slows down eating things that require cutting with a knife while held with a fork.
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I thought everyone knew this but ....
Neurodivergent story time!In the era of French aristocracy, American culture was just starting to get posh. And Americans (colonists then citizens) at the time decided great high class table manners meant copying high French fashion. So they adopted this weird "zig zag" method of eating where we only eat with the fork in our right hands facing up like you'd scoop food, but also only use the knife in our right hands. So every time you cut something you set the fork down and switch hands, then switch back. We can't eat with a fork in our left hand (if we were raised with strict table manners that don't care about handedness).
America did that big revolution and our big freedom thing and never switched back. The rest of the world moved on to knife in the right hand, fork in the left turned downward whilst cutting stuff.
You can always tell an American while eating by how we use the knife and fork. It's how they caught spies in WWII. Turns out it is incredibly hard to relearn XD
@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.
