# The Ugly American (when he's eating) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 6, 2014, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugly-american-when-hes-eating/690164 "2014-06-06T00:43:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugly-american-when-hes-eating/690164/41 "2014-06-06T19:54:43Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > Cool, thanks much. That makes sense. > > What about the case of a knife-less plate of food? Trying to think of an example but am having trouble off the top of my head. Just imagine there’s some meal you eat with a fork but there’s no need for a knife. > > Maybe some sort of pasta? Fork only, in right hand, scoop style. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugly-american-when-hes-eating/690164/42 "2014-06-06T19:58:16Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > When eating the mashed potatoes, the knife gets put down and the fork or spoon goes to the right hand. That’s the American way. The European style doesn’t switch hands. > [@](#): > > Also, I’m not sure what you mean by holding the fork upside down. In the neutral position, the pointy thing is held upright with my index finger pointing outward to act as a stabilizer when cutting the meat. > > The fork is held similar to a way you would hold a peice of chalk while drawing on a chalkboard. I’m a little unclear on this, but I think that’s the “scoop” way, similar to how you hold a spoon. But with the European style, the fork is held in the left hand, “upside down,” in the same position as if cutting a steak. Here’s a [direct link](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fypq2qhRZnI&t=0m58s) to a youtube video explanation. Oddly, she says that you load up the back of the fork with soft food (potatoes, peas, whatever; I guess) and eat it that way. That’s a bit off-putting to my American senses. I don’t think I could buy into an eating style where I use the back of my fork to hold non-cutting food. I assumed that you’d turn the fork “rightside up” in your left hand to scoop food, as opposed to using your knife to scoop the food onto the back of the fork. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugly-american-when-hes-eating/690164/43 "2014-06-06T20:05:39Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > …I assumed that you’d turn the fork “rightside up” in your left hand to scoop food, as opposed to using your knife to scoop the food onto the back of the fork. As I mentioned above, that is the polite way. But I would hazard to guess that most of us proletarians do in fact scoop soft foods like mashed potatoes and peas. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugly-american-when-hes-eating/690164/44 "2014-06-06T20:12:41Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > Otherwise, Japanese slurp their noodles when they are in soup (you try to eat soba without slurping and see how far you get) but not when they are on a plate. I hear this a lot from slurping defenders (as an American, I find slurping gross, like eating with your mouth open), and yet I eat soba noodles often and don’t have any trouble not slurping. Maybe that’s just my superpower. > [@JohnGalt](#): > > You know what’s really ugly? _Fat_ Americans when they’re eating (I’ve waiting for this to come up here…) You sound as classy and thoughtful as your username would lead me to expect. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugly-american-when-hes-eating/690164/45 "2014-06-06T20:26:57Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > We’ve had threads about things Americans eat, that others find disgusting. Now, let’s discuss Americans’ eating habits . . . not WHAT we eat, but HOW we eat. > > Like, for example, eating certain things with our hands. :mad: That’s for hoity-toity dandified pussies! Real Americans eat **without** using our hands! ---
**Author:** ![Macca26](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/13edae/32.png) [@Macca26](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Macca26)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugly-american-when-hes-eating/690164/46 "2014-06-06T20:48:20Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > I hear this a lot from slurping defenders (as an American, I find slurping gross, like eating with your mouth open), and yet I eat soba noodles often and don’t have any trouble not slurping. Maybe that’s just my superpower. Yeah, you just start by putting one end of a noodle in your mouth. Then you grab the noodle again partway down and put that in your mouth as well. Continue doing so until you have as much noodle as you want, and then bite it off. Unless, of course, you’ve put the whole noodle in your mouth. Same thing applies to any long noodles. I find the slurping thing incredibly difficult. My face puckers up and the noodles usually go nowhere. And if they do, they slap me in the face. Too annoying. So I actually place the food in my mouth instead. Slurping is also just completely disgusting to me. I have a coworker that can slurp literally anything. Lollipops, salads, yogurt, soup, vegetables, rice, you name it, he slurps it. The _sounds_ he makes. Euuuuuuugh ---
**Author:** ![Chicken\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Chicken\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicken_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugly-american-when-hes-eating/690164/47 "2014-06-06T20:48:52Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > Surinam cuisine is eaten with the fingers on pieces of pancake. What an disturbing thought. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugly-american-when-hes-eating/690164/48 "2014-06-06T21:33:46Z")
I’m a European that switches the fork sometimes. When I feel like it. I guess I’m an equal opportunities cutlery user. I try not to get too hung up on things. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugly-american-when-hes-eating/690164/49 "2014-06-06T21:39:34Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > That’s the American way. The European style doesn’t switch hands. > > I’m a little unclear on this, but I think that’s the “scoop” way, similar to how you hold a spoon. But with the European style, the fork is held in the left hand, “upside down,” in the same position as if cutting a steak. > > Here’s a [direct link](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fypq2qhRZnI&t=0m58s) to a youtube video explanation. > > Oddly, she says that you load up the back of the fork with soft food (potatoes, peas, whatever; I guess) and eat it that way. That’s a bit off-putting to my American senses. I don’t think I could buy into an eating style where I use the back of my fork to hold non-cutting food. > > I assumed that you’d turn the fork “rightside up” in your left hand to scoop food, as opposed to using your knife to scoop the food onto the back of the fork. Interesting. after watching that video, I guess do a mix of both. European style for the meat and American style for the sides. I always thought Europeans put the knife down when going at the sides. [Here’s](http://www.slate.com/content/dam/slate/articles/arts/culturebox/2013/06/130625_CBOX_ForkKnife.jpg.CROP.original-original.jpg) a pic WRT how I hold the fork. I think we were talking about the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugly-american-when-hes-eating/690164/50 "2014-06-06T22:35:31Z")
> [@Chicken\_Fingers](#): > > What an disturbing thought. What do you have against, um, fingers? ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugly-american-when-hes-eating/690164/51 "2014-06-06T22:54:03Z")
> [@JohnGalt](#): > > You know what’s really ugly? _Fat_ Americans when they’re eating (I’ve waiting for this to come up here…) Or SKINNY Americans… who do they think they are fooling? Nobody. Half of it they just scoop out on to the floor. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugly-american-when-hes-eating/690164/52 "2014-06-06T23:07:39Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > I can’t help wondering- I constantly run into web posts (not just on the SDMB) and blog posts asking, “Why are we Americans so awful, so disgustinng, so crude, so unsophisticated??? We can’t be be like Europeans, who are so much better than us in every way???” > > Does anyone in other countries ever start threads like that? Does anybody in Europe ever ask, "Why can’t we be like Some Other Much Better Country or Society? The upper classes in Britain have always wished we were French — the lower classes that we were German. Excepting when we are being incited to hate either. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Evil\_Prince\_Zorte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@The\_Evil\_Prince\_Zorte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Evil_Prince_Zorte)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugly-american-when-hes-eating/690164/53 "2014-06-06T23:13:53Z")
Does anyone use the knife with their left hand? I got tired of switching hands, so I just started cutting with my left so I could keep the fork in my right hand. Using a fork left-handed is a lot more awkward for me than using a knife left handed. ---
**Author:** ![stui\_magpie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stui_magpie/32/11010_2.png) [@stui\_magpie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stui_magpie)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugly-american-when-hes-eating/690164/54 "2014-06-07T08:20:31Z")
So many rules.:eek: If you can pick it up without burning your fingers and/or making a mess everywhere, fingers are fine. I’ll sometimes put the knife down and go right handed fork, but not often. usually it’s knife and fork, fork tines pointing down. Use fork with tine pointing up to scoop mashed veges or small things like peas. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugly-american-when-hes-eating/690164/55 "2014-06-07T09:17:28Z")
> [@The\_Evil\_Prince\_Zorte](#): > > Does anyone use the knife with their left hand? I got tired of switching hands, so I just started cutting with my left so I could keep the fork in my right hand. Using a fork left-handed is a lot more awkward for me than using a knife left handed. I do, but I have an excuse… I was about 7-8 when I learned how to cut my own meat and food, but I learned it from my aunt (RIP) who is left handed. You’d think that doing it the same way would be difficult for me, but instead it was much more easier and intuitive than the opposite way. For some reason, something as silly as holding down the meat with the left was harder than just slicing through it with the knife back and forth. And obviously the skill of “take piece of food with left-hand and shove it in your mouth” was/is lacking. So I get strange looks because I’m a right handed that cuts like a left-handed. And I don’t switch instruments since the fork is already in my dominant hand. I personally think things like that are very silly to get worked up over. As long as you know to cut the meat/food into smaller pieces and shove it in your mouth, why complain about the mechanics? ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugly-american-when-hes-eating/690164/56 "2014-06-07T12:59:14Z")
> [@KarlGrenze](#): > > I do, but I have an excuse… I was about 7-8 when I learned how to cut my own meat and food, but I learned it from my aunt (RIP) who is left handed. You’d think that doing it the same way would be difficult for me, but instead it was much more easier and intuitive than the opposite way. For some reason, something as silly as holding down the meat with the left was harder than just slicing through it with the knife back and forth. And obviously the skill of “take piece of food with left-hand and shove it in your mouth” was/is lacking. > > So I get strange looks because I’m a right handed that cuts like a left-handed. And I don’t switch instruments since the fork is already in my dominant hand. > > I personally think things like that are very silly to get worked up over. As long as you know to cut the meat/food into smaller pieces and shove it in your mouth, why complain about the mechanics? I’m a left-handed American, and this fork-switching practice is new to me. So apparently some people switch forks so that they can hold the knife in their dominant hand when they use it? Being a lefty it seems like a lot of us pick up on a lot of righty things out of necessity, like using right-handed scissors. I hold the fork in my dominant left hand exclusively. When I need to cut something, I pick up and use the knife with my right hand. So I guess that’s European style? But I do hold the fork scoop-style when I eat soft foods. So I guess that part of my table manners is uncouth American-Style. 😉 When I want to spear something with my fork or hold meat with it when I’m cutting I will turn the fork around in my left hand and hold it with the tines pointing down. Sometimes if I want to combine a bit of veggie or potato with my bite of meat I’ll add it to the back of the fork. I do have a lot of British relatives so maybe I unconsciously learned to eat partially European from them. Nobody ever told me I was ever doing anything incorrectly. Amazing the things, large and small, learned in this forum after being alive for almost 50 years! Hadn’t ever really considered my fork and knife style before. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugly-american-when-hes-eating/690164/57 "2014-06-07T13:17:14Z")
> [@cher3](#): > > The one that bugs me is eating and/or drinking while shopping. I mean actually in the store, not taking a break at the mall. Really, you and your kid can get through a trip to Target without a snack. (There’s also the issue of people making sure their child has something to eat or drink at every waking moment, but that’s another topic.) I work as a retail store cashier, and I cannot tell you how many people hand me empty bags to scan. You couldn’t wait five minutes to scarf down the chocolate. The idea of eating as fast as you can puzzles me. In her autobio “The Jean Nidetch Story” the Weight Watchers founder tells of hiring a skinny assistant with the stipulation that “you eat out with me at a restaurant once a week. I’ll pay.” The first thing Jean noticed is that the woman took a bite and put down her fork. She looked at the artwork, listened to the music, etc. Jean was amazed. She noticed all overweight people cling to their forks and eat very fast, while skinny people put it down and enjoy one bite. This drove my guy nuts when we first got together. We’d go out to eat and he’d be looking at his empty plate, ready for dessert, and I’d still have half my meal on my plate. ---
**Author:** ![toast\_pakora](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3ec8ea/32.png) [@toast\_pakora](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toast_pakora)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugly-american-when-hes-eating/690164/58 "2014-06-07T13:24:23Z")
IMO, the fast-eating thing is from school cafeteria lunches. In high school, I had 20 minutes from the time the “before lunch” class ended and until I had to be at the “after lunch” class. That included going to my locker and standing in line with my food tray. My first trip to France was a wake up call. What do you mean, closed 3 hours in the afternoon for lunch??? Which leads to a meal we had once in a restaurant in a tiny village. Sat down and when I was finished, I checked my watch and _two hours_ had passed without my even noticing it. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugly-american-when-hes-eating/690164/59 "2014-06-07T15:29:54Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I The first thing Jean noticed is that the woman took a bite and put down her fork. She looked at the artwork, listened to the music, etc. Why is this seen as a good thing? The art and music at your average restaurant is worthy of perhaps thirty seconds’ appreciation, at most. I’ve got shit to do. Let’s eat and move on. In my case, I suspect it started as part of a large family. Slowest eater doesn’t get the extra pork chop very often. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugly-american-when-hes-eating/690164/60 "2014-06-07T20:58:26Z")
> [@The\_Evil\_Prince\_Zorte](#): > > Does anyone use the knife with their left hand? I got tired of switching hands, so I just started cutting with my left so I could keep the fork in my right hand. Using a fork left-handed is a lot more awkward for me than using a knife left handed. I do this too. I’m right-handed but I do a lot of things left-handed, including using the knife. I also get a lot of strange looks doing this. 😃 If I eat with my hands I use my left hand, and my beverage is also on the left side of my plate. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugly-american-when-hes-eating/690164.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugly-american-when-hes-eating/690164.md?page=4)