Is it acceptable to use a fork with my right hand?

Tarzana2

Eugene Norman wrote: »

Frankly the elbows are too far out in both pictures, something which is likely to affect neighbours. It's possible to keep both hands of the table with elbows in.

The elbow thing seems to be dying out a bit, in various dining contexts I see elbows plonked on tables and I welcome it, to be honest. (though I've never eaten in a very very high class Michelin type place so don't know about that context) I think the reason was so as not to exclude people, but unless you are slouched over the table, that doesn't really happen, IME. Like you said, the way that guy's elbows are in the photo is worse!

katydid

Spirogyra wrote: »

I tend to read while I eat, sometimes using a fork only, with my right hand. Find this easier. If I did so in company/public, would I look uncivilsed? S

Do you mean while holding the knife in your left hand, or cutting everything up and then digging in with the fork, American style? I have to say that that annoys the hell out of me. It's so American! I hate to see how it's become so popuar.

But everyone has the right to do what they want, and eat how they want. ..

katydid

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

Am I reading this correct - there are people on this thread that consider using your right hand to hold a fork as incorrect and poor table manners?

Seriously?

Yes...if you cut up your food with your knife in your right hand and then switch. Apart from being bad table manners, it's just pure inefficient.

beauf

katydid wrote: »

...Apart from being bad table manners,....

Only depending where you are. US/Europe.

BoatMad

Spirogyra wrote: »

I tend to read while I eat, sometimes using a fork only, with my right hand. Find this easier. If I did so in company/public, would I look uncivilsed? S

yes , it will lead to the fall of the civilised world as we know it

Slaphead07

BoatMad wrote: »

yes , it will lead to the fall of the civilised world as we know it

Basic table manners weighs nothing to carry around. There's good reasons why people shouldn't talk with their mouths full, people shouldn't reach across you while you're eating, personally I hate elbows on tables but it's no biggie - where do you draw the line? Neither is what hand you hold your knife and fork in as long as you can use them. (and please don't hold your knife as if it were a pen!) Eating with just a fork in your right hand is fine too... if you're under 10 years of age.
Don't bother calling me a snob that's just too lazy, manners costs nothing and frankly what I've seen in restaurants or at weddings etc has been a bit shocking. As my poor sainted mother used to say "manners maketh the man".

BoatMad

Slaphead07 wrote: »

Basic table manners weighs nothing to carry around. There's good reasons why people shouldn't talk with their mouths full, people shouldn't reach across you while you're eating, personally I hate elbows on tables but it's no biggie - where do you draw the line? Neither is what hand you hold your knife and fork in as long as you can use them. (and please don't hold your knife as if it were a pen!) Eating with just a fork in your right hand is fine too... if you're under 10 years of age.
Don't bother calling me a snob that's just too lazy, manners costs nothing and frankly what I've seen in restaurants or at weddings etc has been a bit shocking. As my poor sainted mother used to say "manners maketh the man".

In reality the use of cutlery is really a cultural and historical thing. There is no " right " way, merely certain societies "view" of the right way.

Certain manners are required to maintain a level of hygiene etc, the rest is merely a form of cultural "affectation ".

todays norms are todays norms as they say.

Slaphead07

BoatMad wrote: »

In reality the use of cutlery is really a cultural and historical thing.

Well.... obviously. When in Asia use chopsticks or India use your hand but assuming you're in western society there are norms which can be described as "manners" - not affections at all..... but simple basic manners.

katydid

beauf wrote: »

Only depending where you are. US/Europe.

Well, yes. I'm assuming we're talking about Ireland here.

Eugene Norman

Slaphead07 wrote: »

Basic table manners weighs nothing to carry around. There's good reasons why people shouldn't talk with their mouths full, people shouldn't reach across you while you're eating, personally I hate elbows on tables but it's no biggie - where do you draw the line? Neither is what hand you hold your knife and fork in as long as you can use them. (and please don't hold your knife as if it were a pen!) Eating with just a fork in your right hand is fine too... if you're under 10 years of age.
Don't bother calling me a snob that's just too lazy, manners costs nothing and frankly what I've seen in restaurants or at weddings etc has been a bit shocking. As my poor sainted mother used to say "manners maketh the man".

Nobody would call that snobbish, just stupid. We keep going around in circles since people won't read the thread. Whats in dispute is whether eating with a fork in your right hand can in any possible way affect your neighbours ( unlike say eating with your mouth open). So much is this not an issue, to not do that in the States is to be rude.

Eugene Norman

Slaphead07 wrote: »

Well.... obviously. When in Asia use chopsticks or India use your hand but assuming you're in western society there are norms which can be described as "manners" - not affections at all..... but simple basic manners.

When in the "western society" do we adopt the American or European styles? The American style used to be the European style, then Europeans got greedy and stopped transferring the fork to the right hand after each cut to speed up eating. It used to be impolite to use the left hand to do anything, because it was a sign of an rushed attitude.

from wiki

When used in conjunction with a knife to cut and consume food in Western social settings, two forms of fork etiquette are common. In the European style, the diner keeps the fork in his or her left hand, while in the American style the fork is shifted between the left and right hands. The American style is most common in the United States.[1] but the European style is considered proper in other countries.[2][3]

Originally, the traditional European method, once the fork was adopted as a utensil, was to transfer the fork to the right hand after cutting food, as it had been considered proper for all utensils to be used with the right hand only. This tradition was brought to America by British colonists and is still in use in the United States. Europe adopted the more rapid style of eating in relatively modern times.[4]

The fact there are deviations in the West shows there is no real reason for this.

btw I use chopsticks in the West at Asian cuisine and my hands where appropriate, like a burger.

beauf

Eugene Norman wrote: »

...people won't read the thread. Whats in dispute is whether eating with a fork in your right hand can in any possible way affect your neighbours ....

Originally it was about looking uncivilized.

Spirogyra wrote: »

I tend to read while I eat, sometimes using a fork only, with my right hand. Find this easier. If I did so in company/public, would I look uncivilsed? S

Slaphead07

I don't buy the notion that eating with just a fork is to "speed up eating" - not at all. It's because people never learned or were never taught to eat with a knife and fork. And not all Americans eat like 12 year olds either.

Eugene Norman

Slaphead07 wrote: »

I don't buy the notion that eating with just a fork is to "speed up eating" - not at all. It's because people never learned or were never taught to eat with a knife and fork. And not all Americans eat like 12 year olds either.

You're a man who doesn't like facts. Nearly all Americans do transfer forks. Europeans used to. And your learning to not swap is ignorant over there.

real uncouth behaviour would be universally disliked.