When I was a kid, my parents were always very strict that my sister and I were not to chew with our mouths open. As a kid, I was somewhat shocked to discover that some adults did it. Quite a few adults, actually.
So, why do so many adults chew with their mouths open? Were their parents not as strict about it, or something?
This isn’t a complaint (:mad:) so much as an “I don’t know” (
).
You answered your own question. Obviously parents (and probably their parents) were not strict about teaching anything. Manners, courtesy, common sense, etc, etc.
If I’m eating something really hot, I’ll keep my mouth open to cool the food as I chew.
I haven’t noticed people doing this much, but I may not be paying attention. I don’t consider the lips slightly parted when chewing some things to be a problem, and I just can’t recall the last time I saw someone gaping wide enough to see the food in their mouth.
breathing difficulties?
Our good friends have an 18 year old boy with some behavioral issues…no excuse I guess but he eats like an animal. Only two things make me gag, Broccoli and the sound and sights of him eating. They have tried everything to get him to eat like a human but he could careless.
Human behavior is normally distributed.
A lot of people can’t breathe through their noses. Sure, it would be nice if they could work something out, but perhaps not possible for some.
I know I generally enjoy gum more if I chew with my mouth open. Maybe it has to do with aerating the food.
For many it’s probably just the fact that no one can tell them to stop anymore.
I can’t remember whether I had a tendency to chew with my mouth open when I was a kid, but I don’t now.
But my 50-year-old brother does. It’s been brought to his attention before. He breathes through his nose just fine, so I don’t know what the issue is.
My brother is single and lives alone, so one might suspect this - but even though I’m married, I can’t remember the last time my wife (or anyone else) reminded me to chew with my mouth closed.
Ugh. For the benefit of everyone who has to be near you, please stop this. If you do this in public, everyone wishes they could tell you how disgusting that it, but of course no one will ever say anything.
Breathing.
And once you’ve eaten 2000 meals one way, it’s hard to switch to another way. It requires conscious effort, and sometimes working new jaw muscles that haven’t been worked that way before. And re-learning how to breathe while eating.
And when I’m eating alone, like 99% of the time, I just don’t care.
I am wondering if there could be a cultural component, too.
My wife is Chinese. I *hate *eating with her immediate family. Everyone chews with their mouths open, and they talk with food in their mouths.
When we eat together, I am constantly reminding her not to talk with food in her mouth. Apparently she was never taught that it’s bad manners to do so.
There is.
I’m Chinese and one of my non-Chinese friends remarks that I often chew and make slurping or smacking noises. I’m now much more conscious of that on my part, at least when I have lunch with her. Another white friend who was stationed in Korea tells me that everybody there slurps and eats with their mouth open. Growing, it was never really an issue in my house with my parents, so it seems to be at least partly cultural. It never occurred to me until I was in my teens that it can be gross to chew with your mouth open or talk with your mouth full
Yes. The people I see doing this most often are Asian or Black women. I’ve seen it in every type of group, but those are represented much more often.
For allergy sufferers, it can also be the result of congested nasal passages, which don’t allow the person to breathe normally through the nose. As such, they’re forced to do so through the mouth, or have to remember to hold their breath.
It most definitely has a cultural aspect attached, in certain cases. My SO is also Chinese, and her family does this same thing (including numerous other noises when eating). It’s partially conscious and deliberate behavior, too, as it has been a point raised more than a few times.