# You should eat like a Brit. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 3, 2005, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-eat-like-a-brit/333860 "2005-12-03T03:34:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Purl_McKnittington)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2005, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-eat-like-a-brit/333860/21 "2005-12-03T07:25:41Z")
> [@BraheSilver](#): > > I’m American, and hold my knife in my left hand and my fork in the right without switching. I’m right handed. What does that make me? I eat like this too. I’d say it makes you make sense. I do eat my peas with a spoon most of the time, otherwise I stab the round bastards with the tines of my fork. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2005, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-eat-like-a-brit/333860/22 "2005-12-03T07:32:12Z")
> [@amarinth](#): > > Or we’d use our fingers and teeth - why bother dirtying a fork, spoon, or knife when God or Nature (your pick) gave us perfectly good cutting, ripping, and handling devices? If you do this with a kebab at 2am, you’re eating like a true Brit indeed 😃 ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2005, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-eat-like-a-brit/333860/23 "2005-12-03T09:13:03Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > If you do this with a kebab at 2am, you’re eating like a true Brit indeed 😃 A kebab? What happened to the curry? ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2005, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-eat-like-a-brit/333860/24 "2005-12-03T15:44:12Z")
I do. My step-father, who was extremely anal about “proper eating habits” was British. Well, both his parents were, they moved here before he was born. What does that make him? First generation British-American? These things confuse me. Anyway, learned my “proper eating habits” from him. It makes more sense to me, or I probably would have switched over the the “American” way of doing things as soon he left, just out of spite. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2005, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-eat-like-a-brit/333860/25 "2005-12-03T15:47:20Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > When I’m eating things that are “cut off a bite and eat it,” I keep the fork in my left hand. However, when there’s no cutting, the fork is in the right. Me too. 3rd generation 'merkin with some Brit ancestry before that FWIW. When the fork’s in the left hand the tines are curved downwards for stabbing. When the fork’s in the right hand the tines are curved upwards for scooping. ---
**Author:** ![Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnac_the_Magnificent)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2005, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-eat-like-a-brit/333860/26 "2005-12-03T16:11:58Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > I am American. I have always used a fork and knife the European way. > > We took a GOOD EUROPEAN IDEA AND CHANGED IT TO MAKE IT WORSE. That is not the America that I know and love. We make things more efficient. We improve things. > All manners are supposed to have in origin in either efficiency or making other diners feel comfortable. Show me that here with this little in-joke of a tradition. Wow, Shag baby. Multiple mistakes here, old bean. First, the “American” way of which you write predates the “European” way, so it can be said that millions of Americans are observing tradition. And where do you get the idea that “manners are supposed to have in origin (sic) in either efficiency…”? Manners are seldom about efficiency and everything about tradition, grace and refinement. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2005, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-eat-like-a-brit/333860/27 "2005-12-03T16:36:27Z")
> [@Tibbycat](#): > > keeping the knife in my right hand and the fork in the left hand with no utensil exchange between hands Do you eat pie this way? macaroni? scrambled eggs? mashed potatoes? For the majority of things I eat with a fork, no knife is involved or needed. And then when I do use a knife, fork-in-the-right-hand is still what I’m used to. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2005, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-eat-like-a-brit/333860/28 "2005-12-03T17:33:15Z")
I do. American girl with an English mother. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2005, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-eat-like-a-brit/333860/29 "2005-12-03T17:36:34Z")
> [@Thudlow Boink](#): > > Do you eat pie this way? macaroni? scrambled eggs? mashed potatoes? Macaroni: No Scrambled eggs: Yes Mashed potatoes: No Pie: Yes (except pumpkin pie: no) > [@Carnac the Magnificent](#): > > First, the “American” way of which you write predates the “European” way, so it can be said that millions of Americans are observing tradition. > [@History of the Fork web site](#): > > The English ridiculed forks as being effeminate and unnecessary. “Why should a person need a fork when God had given him hands?” they asked. Apparently a good case can be made that the American method may, indeed, predate the English method. If this is the case, then the more recent refinement makes sense and I urge all Americans to discard their antiquated utensil-wielding ways. If, however, the American method postdates the English method, I will rescind my American citizenship on the grounds of extreme national wackiness (Limeys are supposed to be the wacky ones, not us Yanks). The fork, effeminate? The spoon strikes me as being a wee bit poof-ish, but certainly not the fork… 🙂 > [@amarinth](#): > > Logic and efficiency have nothing to do with table manners. If we wanted to be efficient, we’d put the food in the blender and drink it. > > Or we’d use our fingers and teeth - why bother dirtying a fork, spoon, or knife when God or Nature (your pick) gave us perfectly good cutting, ripping, and handling devices? It isn’t about efficiency. Well, I think that both the American and British/Continental methods may be considered in line with good etiquette, but just to make sure that I don’t come across as a barbarian, I raise both pinkies and my nose while I eat. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2005, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-eat-like-a-brit/333860/30 "2005-12-03T17:47:07Z")
> [@Carnac the Magnificent!](#): > > Wow, Shag baby. I love those words. > [@Carnac the Magnificent!](#): > > First, the “American” way of which you write predates the “European” way, so it can be said that millions of Americans are observing tradition. And where do you get the idea that “manners are supposed to have in origin (sic) in either efficiency…”? I was speaking of the manners associated with eating habits only. The part that you omitted referred to making other diners feel at ease. This habit is very disturbing. It makes it look like the person is a malfunctioning drone. What should manners related to eating habits be based on? Even if the American tradition is older than the European one, that doesn’t matter. I expect Americans to steal the best ideas from around the world, improve upon them, and make them our own. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2005, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-eat-like-a-brit/333860/31 "2005-12-03T19:58:05Z")
I always thought these complaints were about how we use our fork to cut our food. In fact I wish forks had a bit of an edge (like a butter knife) so that they could cut more easily. I eat my peas with honey. It sure makes the peas taste funny but it keeps 'em on my knife. That should have been my most obscure reference for that thread. Ah well. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2005, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-eat-like-a-brit/333860/32 "2005-12-03T22:11:12Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > Semi-British. I don’t switch after cutting (It seems a senseless time-waster to me.) but tines up when inserting the fork. I do the opposite, I switch hands, but eat tines down. Well, some of the time, because my mom used to have such a fit about it when I was young, she’d insist I’d eat tines up. Seriously, we actually once had a blow out argument at the dinner table over this, complete with the plaintive cry: “WHAT IF YOU EVER HAVE DINNER AT THE WHITE HOUSE?” ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2005, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-eat-like-a-brit/333860/33 "2005-12-03T22:38:52Z")
Huh. I’m english, and I do it what’s apperently the american way - I cut with the knife, and then switch the fork to my right for eating. Not sure where I picked that up from, but maybe it’s not as clear-cut as you think? ---
**Author:** ![picker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/picker/32/13969_2.png) [@picker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picker)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2005, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-eat-like-a-brit/333860/34 "2005-12-04T14:44:29Z")
> [@Fern Forest](#): > > I eat my peas with honey. It sure makes the peas taste funny but it keeps 'em on my knife. > That should have been my most obscure reference for that thread. Ah well. I gotcha, **Fern Forest** In fact, that line is a running joke among the group of pickers I play with - I will randomly insert that lyric into just about any song I sing when I’m feeling mischievious on stage. Nobody but us ever gets it, though ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Fortean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/96bed5/32.png) [@Fortean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fortean)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2005, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-eat-like-a-brit/333860/35 "2005-12-04T18:24:45Z")
> [@](#): > > I hold the fork (wrongly of course - see my earlier post with the Swamp Thing manners reference) gripped in my fist. Like you would hold it if you were going to bang on the table and scream for the cook to bring more. That is fist gripped around the base, tines pointing upwards if my palm is down. > > Yes, I know it’s “wrong.” Actually, in the UK it is considered non-U (ie, a bit lower middle-class, doncha know) to hold the fork like a pen; proper posh types hold it like you do (I think - I’m trying to visualise it), rather like a scalpel, but without the forefinger being outstretched. Thus a Brit is able to judge his fellows, even when their mouths are otherwise occupied. Ah, civilisation. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![qubed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f07891/32.png) [@qubed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qubed)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2005, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-eat-like-a-brit/333860/36 "2005-12-04T18:32:40Z")
Forks? What are Forks? True Americans eat with their hands. Ok, Americans in India. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2005, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-eat-like-a-brit/333860/37 "2005-12-04T18:35:59Z")
Lefty. Anglo-German-whatever-eater. Sauerbraten and two veg, please. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2005, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-eat-like-a-brit/333860/38 "2005-12-04T18:38:20Z")
I found this quote from a \*history of food \*web site. > [@](#): > > 1630: Governor Winthrop of the Massachusetts Bay Colony possesses what is said to be the first and only fork in colonial America. The fad for using a fork has not yet reached the Americas, but Americans continue to import their knives from Europe. The blunted knives imported from Europe are not so easy to eat with as pointed ones were, and many people begin to use a spoon to steady food while cutting it. They then switch the spoon to the right hand to scoop up the bite of food – the beginnings of what is known today as the zig-zag method. Apparently, the American method of utensile switching is known as the \*zig-zag \*method. The utensile exchange to the right hand must have evolved from the spoon to the fork. ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2005, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-eat-like-a-brit/333860/39 "2005-12-04T20:10:46Z")
> [@Fern Forest](#): > > I always thought these complaints were about how we use our fork to cut our food. In fact I wish forks had a bit of an edge (like a butter knife) so that they could cut more easily. It’s been done. If you’re looking for more information about this sort of thing, Henry Petroski’s book _The Evolution of Useful Things_ has an interesting discussion on silverware. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2005, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-eat-like-a-brit/333860/40 "2005-12-04T21:58:34Z")
I’ve never understood the howls of protest that _switching hands_ is such a vastly inconvenient thing to do. Most of the time, I don’t need a knife at all, since I’m not eating something involving much cutting. When I am, it’s obviously far easier to take half a second to switch my fork to my dominant hand than to try to develop fork-wielding skills in my left hand as well. But none of you stop on my account. One of life’s little pleasures is watching people clumsily eating with their forks in their left hands, pausing every few moments between picking up dropped food to proclaim how efficient and not-at-all-pretentious they are. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-eat-like-a-brit/333860.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-eat-like-a-brit/333860.md?page=3)