# How Do You Hold Your Knife And Fork When Eating?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-hold-your-knife-and-fork-when-eating/623074>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [May 25, 2012, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-hold-your-knife-and-fork-when-eating/623074 "2012-05-25T16:17:27Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 7

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**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\
**Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-hold-your-knife-and-fork-when-eating/623074/121 "2012-10-24T13:59:14Z")

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Other. Fork in right, knife in left, always. It’s much easier to eat that way.

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**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\
**Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-hold-your-knife-and-fork-when-eating/623074/122 "2012-10-24T14:28:33Z")

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I eat ‘cack-handed,’ I was always told - fork in my right hand, knife in my left, even though I’m right-handed. But I don’t put the knife down and switch. Before this board I had no idea anyone would do so.

> [@kayT](#):
>
> I wonder why it is that those who do not switch hands seem to insist that doing so is “barbaric” or “rude” or “bizarre”? I do see that it may be a bit less efficient, but as someone else mentioned if it were all about efficiency we would drink our soup and eat meat with our hands. I don’t see “switchers” making such judgements about “non-switchers” either. What’s barbaric about changing hands? I really don’t understand. I also don’t get why cutting a boiled potato with a fork is “wrong”. (And yes, I put the fork tines down to cut my steak, but when I am ready to eat, I turn it tines up. Don’t see why that’s “wrong”, either.) It just seems like this whole issue carries a lot of value judgements for those who eat one way about those who eat differently, and I am not at all clear why. None of the methods of eating described here seem rude or barbaric or animalistic to me, just different.

I agree that they’re just different methods, but actually at least two US posters who use the switching style called it barbaric to keep the knife in your hand.

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**Author:** ![JBGUSA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/258eb7/32.png) [@JBGUSA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBGUSA)\
**Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-hold-your-knife-and-fork-when-eating/623074/123 "2017-04-11T12:44:33Z")

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When I go to an Ethiopian restaurant I use the bread to scoop my food. No fork or knife.

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