If I'm only using a fork then I'll use my right hand to hold it. If I've got knife and fork then I use fork in left hand, knife in right hand. I can't use the fork in my left hand by itself![]()
Am I the only weirdo??
I am right handed but when it comes to using a knife and fork to eat, i hold the fork in my right hand and the knife in my left hand. I always get told off and that i'm a weirdo. I've tried holding the knife with my right and the fork with the left and i feel unco.
Which hand do you hold the fork with when using a knife and fork to eat??
Just curious to see if I'm the only weirdo?? Probably am.
If I'm only using a fork then I'll use my right hand to hold it. If I've got knife and fork then I use fork in left hand, knife in right hand. I can't use the fork in my left hand by itself![]()
I'm exactly the same as you ss! Sorry TD!!
'Proper' etiquiette is to hold the knife in the right and the fork in the left according to wikiand is the 'american method'
The 'european method' is thisThe knife is held in the right hand and the fork in the left. Holding food to the plate with the fork tines-down, a single bite-sized piece is cut with the knife. The knife is then placed on the right edge of the plate (with the blade facing inward) and the fork transferred to the right hand, with the left hand falling to the lap. The cut piece is then speared (if not already during the cut) or scooped and eaten using the fork in a tines-up orientation. The fork is held in the right hand or put down on the plate while chewing. The fork is then transferred back into the left hand, the right hand picks up the knife, and the process is repeated as necessary. A left-handed consumer can retain the fork in the stronger hand, although the knife is still released
I'm left handed and I eat 'right handed' but I was a left handed girl brought up in a right handed world LOLEuropean style
The European manner is to hold the fork and knife, in the left and right hands respectively, throughout consumption. Once a bite-sized piece of food has been cut, it is conducted straight to the mouth by the left hand. There is no need to put down the knife.
The hand grasp is also different: outside of North America it is considered better manners not to hold a knife or fork as one would hold a pen, but instead to have the handle running along the palm and extending out to be held by thumb and forefinger. This style is sometimes called 'hidden handle'. This method is also common in Canada and other former parts of the British Empire. In contrast to the American method of using a fork much like a spoon (tines up), in this style of eating the tines must be pointed down.
The cause of the difference in custom is uncertain. It is believed to have originated because the 17th century American colonists had established themselves before the fork, and any custom of its use, had become widespread in Europe. The implement did not become widespread in Europe (certainly northern Europe) until the 18th century, and was not adopted in the United States until the 19th century. The American use of blunt-ended knives was also a factor.
Last edited by Trillian; January 29th, 2010 at 09:12 AM.
fork in right and knife in left as a child i would swap over to cut food now i dont swap i cut with left hand. i am right handed.
The knife was held in the right hand as traditionally daggers were used at the table to cut the meat, and then to eat with the left hand - leaving the right hand (weapon hand) free to fight
That's why it's impolite to have the blade of your knife pointing to your neighbour, as they may take offence and fight you. Far better to have the sharp blade pointing inwards, showing no aggression![]()
(after walking to the kitchen at work to experiment) I hold the fork in my left hand when cutting as i have more control over the knife in my right, but if im just eating with a fork, like ss_storm i'll hold it in my right![]()
I switch lol. When I'm cutting my food, the knife is in my right hand, then as soon as I'm done cutting I switch cutlery and eat with my fork in my right hand. I'm far too unco to eat with my left hand, it's good for helping me type but that's all lol.
You're not alone TD, I've always been roused on since I was a kid for eating 'left-handed'!
so far i am the weirdo then!
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come on there must be somebody else for sure!
im right handed and have fork in left hand knife in the right (i think lol) my family have always said i did it the wrong way around, now im confused lol
im left handed and eat right handed but i used to eat that way and i was told off as a kid and now thats why i eat right handed
TD you are not alone!
I am predominately right handed... but I hold my knife in my left hand - I always get looked at funny when I pick up utensils and promptly change hands!
I also crochet left handed and tend to carry heavier things in my left hand though with DD I always carry her on the right hand
So now you aren't weird (unless I am too)
I am the same as you Turkish Delight, I have the fork in my right hand always and knife in my left.
TD if you buy some Splaydes or Sporks, then you can fork away legitimately with your right hand and never worry about a knife every again![]()
I'm a rightie but I always hold my fork in left hand and knife in right...if I have no knife then I hold the fork in my right hand.
DH is like you though and I always have to set the table opposite for him. DH thinks that fork in right hand, knife in left is the Australian way and that it's only Americans who eat the other way around...I always then ask him why when eating out it's set with fork on left and knife on right. He hasn't come up with an answer to that.
Fork in the left, knife in the right here. Unless I'm eating something like peas, then the fork is in the right. But that's what I learnt at deportment class when I was a teenager, and it's always stuck.
I'm a rightie but can use my knife and fork either way. Generally if it's just a fork i'm using, I'll use my right hand, but if I have a knife it will mainly be knife in left hand fork in right, but it switches depending on the day
My brother is a rightie but can only eat with his knife in left hand and we also thought it was odd...
You're not a weirdo, you're unique![]()
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