Forking Etiquette

[zbanks]

And I thought this was about github...

[w1ntermute]

Even after seeing the domain name, I was hoping beyind hope that it would be...

[dkarl]

For the last time, fellow Americans, it is not proper etiquette just because English people do it that way. If it's called the Continental method, it's probably the result of the English blindly copying the French. Isn't it silly of us to insecurely copy the manners of a country that insecurely copies the manners of another country?

[kgo]

Sure it's silly. But it'd be sillier to either

(a) invent a whole new etiquette system from scratch

or

(b) descend into thunderdome-level anything-goes anarchy

at the dinner table just to prove we're not silly.

Before you know it, people would be cracking open eggs at the big end.

[nailer]

It's designed as a mechanism to spot people of lower class, and some would argue it still works. Go dining with a seriously monied American and see what they do.

[tlrobinson]

"napkinforkspoon" isn't a very efficient word for such an efficient tool. Clearly it should be "sporkin".

[edw519]

Was I supposed to open doors using nothing but my elbows?

Yes, actually.

My mother called me with directions to her new apartment...

"Go into the lobby and hit '614' with your elbow. I'll buzz you in."

"Go into the elevator and hit '6' with your elbow."

"Get off the elevator, turn right, and go down the hall to Apartment 614. Hit the doorbell with your elbow. I'll let you in."

"Why with my elbow?" I asked.

She replied, "You're not coming empty handed, are you?"

[srean]

In winter that would be a resounding yes. For all things such as metallic elevator buttons, metallic doors......

Hate getting spiked by static. I don't know why I get an unfair dose of those as compared to others.

[macrael]

Etiquette is such a funny thing. I know I sometimes notice people who aren't following protocol, usually out of ignorance of the rules, and it can really bug me. Why should it matter to me if someone is holding their fork in a fist, rather than between two fingers? But it seems ugly to me. Obviously it is the vey definition of uncouth, but it surprises me that it seems ugly. As if all of us following the rules do something pretty by doing so.

[burgerbrain]

I generally go out of my way to not follow "proper" etiquette while dining, but this is because I think that "etiquette" is a piss-poor reason for me to be uncomfortable while dining as a left-handed individual.

Screw old english ladies' definitions of proper, I am going to rearrange my utensils and plates.

[joshu]

Dining etiquette is goofy. But there are other places where it is useful. Like how to walk on a sidewalk or which goes first through a door. These are like traffic rules, and when followed it can improve everyone's efficiency.

[epochwolf]

I had no clue what he was talking about with tines down until he mentioned the american method being tines up. As for cutting stuff with a fork: I've unconsciously avoided doing that in nicer restaurants but I've always done it at home when I don't have a knife handy.

I think I would pick up on other people around me using forks differently just because I like to watch what everyone else is doing.

[varunsrin]

Is it bad that when I saw this I thought it was gonna be about git.

[doki_pen]

I thought it would be about forking processes.

[ecaroth]

if you are going to fork my trunk, at least give me cab fare

[snarkyturtle]

Rice is the hardest thing to eat with a fork. Especially the non-sticky kind. Foods like rice and other loose foods should be exempt from etiquettes in favor of the most efficient method. Otherwise, as noted in the article, it'll lead to either an excruciatingly slow and/or messy meal, which is all the more noticeable than the way you hold your fork.

[jtg]

That's why, in many countries in Southeast Asia (Thailand, Malaysia, Burma, the Philippines), you eat your meal with a spoon and a fork; the spoon goes in the right hand and the fork goes in the left. You push food onto the spoon and shove it into your mouth. Try it sometime. It's the most efficient way to eat rice. I find it even more efficient than the East Asian way of picking up the bowl and using the chopsticks to move the rice into your mouth.

If you've ever eaten at a nice sit-down Thai restaurant, that's why they'll give you a spoon and a fork. I've had this confirmed by friends whose families were from Malaysia and Burma. If you're looking for the most efficient way to eat rice, this is it.

[mootothemax]

Strong disagree. With a bit of practise one can learn to balance a decent amount of rice on the back of one's fork. Green peas, alas, escape even the most practised forking, regardless of which method - balancing on the back or stab-them-to-death - one chooses.

[viraptor]

As much, as I don't mind "proper etiquette" in public places, at home there's only one thing I use: http://www.lightmyfireusa.com/spork.html It fits in the hand perfectly and I can finally cut stuff with the side of the fork (who needs a knife anyways?). I really recommend that one.

[Sniffnoy]

Oh, here I assumed this was going to be stating something like we need fork the whole notion of etiquette and make our own version. To an extent, we already have.

[autarch]

All of this stuff is completely hilarious.

It's incredibly rare for me to use a knife in a meal (although I did when I went out earlier this evening). I'm vegan, and I mostly eat non-American food.

About half my meals use just a spoon and chopsticks. Many of my other meals are things like Indian food (just a fork, or just your hands).

I hold my fork in my right hand, because I'm right handed. I use the contour of my fork to pick up my food. If I'm using a fork, I'm often eating something saucy (like an Indian curry). Attempting to eat this tines down would be a messy disaster.

I really don't get these ridiculous etiquette rules. As Scott Adams point out, eating like this is inefficient, and generally annoying. I eat to enjoy myself, not to impress others with my memory of ridiculous minutia.

[johngalt]

If your cutting don't send the fork all the way through the meat to hold it against the plate. The tines will drag across the plate as you cut and you'll get that high pitched screeching. Just thinking about that sound is irritating. Take your time and let the knife do the work.

[sachitgupta]

Rules are just guidelines that are meant to be broken. How else can change happen?

[shawndumas]

There are two differing styles[1].

----

[1]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fypq2qhRZnI&feature=relat...

[rflrob]

I've found that, for a great many foods, the continental method is more efficient. Assuming you still use the knife with the right hand (and if you're right handed, that should be what gives you the most control over the cutting surface), then it's a bit of a waste of time to constantly switch your fork into your right hand for plate-to-mouth delivery. With the continental style, you never have to change your grip (until you switch to eating the rice and other rollables).

[mikeklaas]

Surely it would be "spnork"?

[Luyt]

Correct way of using cutlery:

1. Concentrate the food on the center of the plate.

2. Using knife and fork and with a scissoring movement, reduce the food to small chunks.

3. Using the fork, mix and stir well.

4. Use the spoon for moving the resulting mash into your mouth with maximum efficiency.

[artpop]

I was truly shocked the first time I saw an American eat a meal and I'm Australian so that's saying a lot.

[code_duck]

Similarly, I was informed a few years ago that I hold my fork like an utter heathen. I tried to solve this, but still have no idea what the proper technique is or how mine differs.

[flexd]

Am i the only one holding the fork in my right hand? I thought that was normal.