# Damn you, cutlers. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 19, 2011, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-cutlers/589613 "2011-07-19T18:58:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2011, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-cutlers/589613/21 "2011-07-21T00:29:35Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Why the obsession with butter in the serrations? So what! If you forget to wash it, it turns into knife smegma. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-cutlers/589613/22 "2011-07-22T00:09:45Z")
> [@blindboyard](#): > > Don’t you see how hard it is to remove margarine from serrations, for those of us unblessed with specialist butter knives? Two problems here: First, margarine is inedible and is no substitute for butter. Second, do you wash your silverware in cold water without soap? Is [Dawn](http://www.dawn-dish.com/en_US/home.do) not available in POHMyland? Saw a news report on cleaning oil-covered birds down on the Gulf of Mexico. The reporter asked a cleaner what she used to remove crude oil from a bird’s plumage. The cleaner looked at him like he was an idiot and said, “Dawn.” A great product. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-cutlers/589613/23 "2011-07-22T00:58:43Z")
> [@blindboyard](#): > > I might make an exception for eating outdoors, but hot food on a plate should be eaten with a fork. Pizza? Fried chicken? ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-cutlers/589613/24 "2011-07-22T07:36:27Z")
> [@marshmallow](#): > > Pizza? Fried chicken? What are you eating those for? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-cutlers/589613/25 "2011-07-22T09:48:42Z")
> [@marshmallow](#): > > Pizza? Fried chicken? Trick question? Yes, of course pizza and chicken should be eaten with a knife and fork. As with fries, I use my hands in a fast food place, otherwise it’s good table manners to use the silverware. Y’know, I can understand the wonderment in this thread about the butter knife thing; what I don’t get is the objection to eating one’s food with a fork. “Well, la-di-da! Aren’t we the fancy-schmancy one! Too good to pick your food up in your hands and shove it into your gaping maw the way God intended us to?” ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-cutlers/589613/26 "2011-07-22T11:19:05Z")
In my neighbourhood, you can get butter knives (and other cutlery) cheaply at the hardware/houseware store or even the dollar store. IKEA [sells](http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/70090380)a six-pack of butter knives for $CDN 7.99. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-cutlers/589613/27 "2011-07-22T21:33:07Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > “Well, la-di-da! Aren’t we the fancy-schmancy one! Too good to pick your food up in your hands and shove it into your gaping maw the way God intended us to?” I dunno about God, but the people who created dishes like french fries, pizza, and fried chicken intended for them to be eaten with your hands, just the same as sandwiches. With a few exceptions, like Chicago deep-dish pizza that’s too heavy and unwieldy or those giant burgers that would require unhinging your jaw like a snake. That’s why these items, except for the exceptions, are of a size, shape, consistency and weight that’s convenient to be held in the hand. Insisting on doing otherwise in the interest of “etiquette” when actual etiquette dictates you eat a dish as it was created to be eaten comes across as silly and affected, like sticking your pinky out when you drink tea. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2011, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-cutlers/589613/28 "2011-07-23T00:25:08Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > Trick question? Yes, of course pizza and chicken should be eaten with a knife and fork. No, no, a thousand times NO! My friend, you need to watch [this clip from _The Daily Show with Jon Stewart_](http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-june-1-2011/me-lover-s-pizza-with-crazy-broad) where Jon gives his take on how not to eat a pizza. Good stuff starts at 3:30. ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2011, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-cutlers/589613/29 "2011-07-23T06:29:48Z")
The creators of “fries” intended them to be eaten with mayonaisse. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2011, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-cutlers/589613/30 "2011-07-23T06:51:56Z")
> [@blindboyard](#): > > The creators of “fries” intended them to be eaten with mayonaisse. I curse you, Sir. I curse thee. May you eat the meals of the rest of your days with a spork. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-cutlers/589613.md?page=1)