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Dining Etiquette: How do you use your knife and fork?

Which style?

  • American Style

  • Continental Style

  • Neither/Other


Results are only viewable after voting.

athenian200

Circumspect
Joined
Jan 31, 2010
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http://trenchant.org/daily/2002/8/12/
American Style: When cutting meat, the knife is in the right hand and the fork is in the left hand. After cutting, the knife is placed at the top of the plate and the fork is switched to the right hand (tines up).

Continental Style: When cutting meat, the knife is in the right hand and the fork is in the left hand. After cutting, the fork (tines down) and the knife remain in the same hands.

Which style do you use?

I generally find myself using something more like the American style, but I don't switch hands several times like people say is often done... I generally just cut everything up when I start eating, and then put my knife down for the rest of the meal and switch the fork to my right hand. I never really understood why people would keep switching to cut a single bite.

Although, in all honesty, I rarely use either method because with informal meals, I just use a fork by itself without a knife. Most foods can be cut by the pressure of a sideways fork, so I just use the fork in both roles.
 

YIGAhim

Sole Survivor
Joined
Apr 10, 2017
Location
Stomp
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Male
I use neither.

When I cut something, I keep my fork in my right hand, and have my knife in my left, and do grab my fork like someone would grab an axe: straight up (But with the prong thingies impaled in whatever I'm cutting), and then simply return to holding my fork like normal
 

Mellow Ezlo

Spoony Bard
Joined
Dec 2, 2012
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Slothkin
I use the American style. It's just what I've gotten used to, although I don't put my knife at the top of my plate, I usually just drop it on the table or move it to my left hand temporarily. It sounds like a lot of work, but it's what I've gotten used to doing. I've seen people do it both ways, and interestingly enough, most of the people in my family consider the way I cut meat to be rather out of the ordinary.
 

Dio

~ It's me, Dio!~
Joined
Jul 6, 2011
Location
England
Gender
Absolute unit
I use a knife in the right hand and a fork in the left if I am dual wielding. I will keep them in the same hands until all the food which requires cutting has been gobbled up. If the rest of the meal (or the meal to begin with) does not require cutting I switch to the fork in the right hand.
 

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