# "soup ettiquette" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 2, 2000, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soup-ettiquette/39343 "2000-11-02T03:26:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![LittleBadWolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bcef8e/32.png) [@LittleBadWolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LittleBadWolf)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2000, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soup-ettiquette/39343/1 "2000-11-02T03:26:52Z")
Hi,while eating lunch with my co-workers last week,one of them was eating soup and we noticed she was “scooping” it in an odd manner. She was “scooping” her soup (tomato in case you’re curious) AWAY from herself as opposed to towards herself as you usually see people do it. She had just returned from a month in Great Britain and she claimed that this is the proper “soup etiquette” over there. Any suggestions how this came about and the reasoning behind it, we debated this issue for a bit and then gave up. Thanx for any help… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2000, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soup-ettiquette/39343/2 "2000-11-02T03:52:39Z")
I don’t know where it came from but that’s the way I was shown to eat soup. As to why. From [http://www.cuisinenet.com/glossary/tips.html](http://www.cuisinenet.com/glossary/tips.html) > [@](#): > > Eating Soup > > Dip the spoon into the soup, moving it away from the body, until it is about two-thirds full, then sip the liquid (without slurping) from the side of the spoon (without inserting the whole bowl of the spoon into the mouth). The theory behind this is that a diner who scoops the spoon toward himself is more likely to slosh soup onto his lap, although it is difficult to imagine what sort of eater would stroke the spoon so forcefully through the liquid that he creates waves. It is perfectly fine to tilt the bowl slightly – again away from the body – to get the last spoonful or two of soup. ---
**Author:** ![peace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@peace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peace)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2000, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soup-ettiquette/39343/3 "2000-11-02T05:08:34Z")
Like other eating “etiquettes”, it’s conventional (fork in the right hand in USA, in the left in Europe, etc.). But let’s say you are in a restaurant and an akward waiter bangs into your chair. S/he spills a plate of soup s/he is carrying, on your head, and you spill yours on your lap, if your plate is tilted toward you. So, to reduce lawyers claims, the convention was intoduced. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2000, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soup-ettiquette/39343/4 "2000-11-02T07:50:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by peace \* > \*\*So, to reduce lawyers claims, the convention was intoduced. \*\* Only Americans would sue over something like that. We would just send one of the servants over to kill the waiter 😃 Maybe you guys have to only use a fork at the dinner table to prevent you stabbing each other. ---
**Author:** ![peace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@peace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peace)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2000, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soup-ettiquette/39343/5 "2000-11-02T18:14:23Z")
Where are you from? If a waiter spilled anything on my bald head, I’d killed myself! ---
**Author:** ![peace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@peace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peace)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2000, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soup-ettiquette/39343/6 "2000-11-02T18:18:55Z")
My “Edit” button does not work, Manhattan. Correction:…killed him… ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2000, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soup-ettiquette/39343/7 "2000-11-02T18:59:29Z")
I may be wrong but IIRC slurping soup in some Asian countries is not only acceptable but is considered a compliment to the chef. ---
**Author:** ![Feynn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecb155/32.png) [@Feynn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Feynn)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2000, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soup-ettiquette/39343/8 "2000-11-02T19:08:14Z")
Peace - I didn’t think that what hand you used for your fork had anything to do with etiquette but had everything to do with what hand is dominant. I am primarily right handed but hold my fork with my left. My son is left handed and holds his fork with his left. We sit next to each other so there isn’t any elbow bumping going on. When setting a table the fork goes in the left… something I always thought as strange since most people are right handed. BTW… I eat soup in the described manner. ---
**Author:** ![MinkMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minkman/32/19170_2.png) [@MinkMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MinkMan)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2000, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soup-ettiquette/39343/9 "2000-11-02T19:24:24Z")
FWIW - I was alway taught to remember the “proper” was to eat soup by the rhyme “As the ship goes out to sea, I’ll spoon my soup away from me.” ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2000, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soup-ettiquette/39343/10 "2000-11-02T19:30:49Z")
The princible of this method is based on the gentility of the method, not its practicality. If you scoop towards yourself its reminiscent of shoveling food greedily in to your mouth. If you butter the entire roll and bite away at it, instead of the polite method of taking off a bite-size piece and then buttering it, it’s one step away from your being one animal knawing at another dead animal. Dining is about conversation, not feeding, and the persuit of gluttony is a hamper to that. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2000, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soup-ettiquette/39343/11 "2000-11-02T20:14:08Z")
Depends on how formal you are, and how etiquette sensitive. Handedness with forks is one of those things. The English eat with the fork in the left hand, knife in the right, whereas Americans hold the fork left to cut, then swap to right to eat. Mostly. Of course lefties are different, and some people catch the utility of not swapping hands. But generalizations go as above. Thus the fork getting placed on the left of the table setting. Generally, the more articles of silverware on the table, the more formal you need to be. If you have 3 forks and 2 spoons and 2 knives, you’re probably in trouble. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2000, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soup-ettiquette/39343/12 "2000-11-02T20:19:53Z")
I was tought to move the spoon away from my body when eating soup and move the spoon toward the body when eating ice cream/sherbet/etc. I have visited Europe, but long after I was given “spoon rules.” (I was told it was a safety precaution.) ---
**Author:** ![SuaSponte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SuaSponte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuaSponte)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2000, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soup-ettiquette/39343/13 "2000-11-02T23:35:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Feynn \* > \*\*Peace - I didn’t think that what hand you used for your fork had anything to do with etiquette but had everything to do with what hand is dominant. I am primarily right handed but hold my fork with my left. My son is left handed and holds his fork with his left. We sit next to each other so there isn’t any elbow bumping going on. > > When setting a table the fork goes in the left… something I always thought as strange since most people are right handed. > > BTW… I eat soup in the described manner. \*\* This is an issue of etiquette - it is not considered proper to change the hand with which you use the fork because of your handed dominance. I’m a lefty, but was (rigorously) trained to use the fork in my right hand. This may be a UL, but I was informed that Emily Post, taught Americans to use the right hand for the fork so that Americans would have to swap the knife and fork and thus eat slower. Sua Sua