[jambutty]

Originally Posted by BERNADETTE

I would assume that people who hold their fork in the right hand do so because they are right-handed.

As for the silly group no not been invited to join it, actually beginning to wonder at the mentality of people who open such groups

Holding a fork in the right hand is yet another Americanism that is finding its way to the rest of the world. At least they are correct when it comes to eating fish. A fish fork has a sort of knife blade incorporated into the utensil so that you cut the fish with the knife bit and use the fork bit to spear the flesh. And there are left and right handed fish forks too.

Whether right or left handed, the yanks will cut up their food (just like babies get their food cut up by mummy), put the knife down and use just the fork in their right hand if they are right handed or vice versa to feed the food into their mouths. It’s a sloppy way of eating a meal from a plate but that’s the way it is. They also tend to lean in to the fork rather than sitting upright and manipulating the fork to the mouth. Of course with the food not properly speared on the fork, like it would have been had a knife and fork been used, it has a tendency to fall into the lap of the eater so that is why yanks lean forward to meet the food en-route to the gob.

This leaves them free to (shock horror!) put their elbows on the table whilst eating.

But none of this really matters any more as table manners are just about a thing of the past except for the “well bred”.

However I must confess that I too have succumbed to the American way of eating because I’m getting lazy in my old age, even if I still sit at the table to eat a meal.