@hacks4pancakes@infosec.exchange
2026-08-01 06:42 UTC
Replies (40)
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@tanyakaroli@expressional.social 2026-08-01 07:07
@hacks4pancakes@infosec.exchange oh, interesting, I didn’t know it was supposed to be good table manners in the US! I have watched American colleagues eat like that and wondered why they make it so complicated? 😅 But I can understand how difficult it must be to unlearn. It’s very much muscle memory.
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@sashag@anarres.family 2026-08-01 07:22
@hacks4pancakes@infosec.exchange I might not have learned *strict* table manners, but I learned that the fork should point in a 90° angle from the hand held only with the first few fingers, like holding a pen. If it is linear with the arm and maybe even held with all fingers (goddess! 😱) that's terrible 🙃 But I also never learned to switch knife and fork. So I "eat like a left-handed person" (surprise, I'm partially ambidextrous). Additional rules included things like: never cut potatoes (or fries/chips) with a knife, break them with the fork, never put used cutlery back on the table. Oh, and never put your hands under the table, but lift the arm going to the mouth from the table. What I read somewhere about US use of cutlery was, that the standard way was to cut everything (like meat) at the beginning, then put the knife down and eat with the fork in the right hand, left hand on your left tigh. Some years later I saw think in reality and it was fascinating. I'm terrible at using chopsticks though. My ADHD problem with micromovements makes it hard to control my fingers like I need to. Similar to hand writing: I can write, but it looks always irregular and every time I write the same sentence it looks irregular in a different way.
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@not_a_label@toot.lgbt 2026-08-01 08:11
@hacks4pancakes@infosec.exchange well I’ve learnt something today! Having lived & worked in the US years ago I was accustomed to the strange looks when using a fork in the left hand but never knew the history behind it all… I spent long enough there that I’m now ambiforkstrous
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@bradr@infosec.exchange 2026-08-01 07:06
@hacks4pancakes@infosec.exchange My family moved from California to Bangkok when I was a kid, and I was fascinated that everyone there used the same familiar forks and spoons, but in a completely different way (no cross, and no table knives). Being able to flip between silverware eating styles is like being bilingual. Surprisingly easy for kids, surprisingly hard for adults. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cn26usXYkKQ
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@jscholes@dragonscave.space 2026-08-01 13:44
@hacks4pancakes@infosec.exchange @FreakyFwoof@universeodon.com I may be misunderstanding the description here but if you put the fork down to use the knife, how do you hold the thing you're cutting in place?
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@loke@functional.cafe 2026-08-01 06:47
@hacks4pancakes@infosec.exchange If it helps, I can tell you that although I was raised in Europe, with a strict fork-in-left-hand rule, I never obeyed by it, because I felt fork in the right had was more convenient (i.e. knife in left hand). I still do it to this day, and having eaten at both plain and fancy occasions in many places the world, I've survived. :-) But, on a similar topic, I have noticed that Americans very often tend to use a fork only, and then use the fork to cut things. I don't know if it stands out, but I notice it. (perhaps people notice my holding the fork wrong and they're just too polite to mention it?) Edit: One more thing: The only time my knife-in-left-hand gives me trouble is when I go to a fancy restaurant and they have those special fish knives. Those are difficult to use with the left hand.
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@zaicurity@infosec.exchange 2026-08-01 06:54
@hacks4pancakes@infosec.exchange I spent a lot of time in the US as a European and never noticed this. Fascinating! The only cutlery related thing I can remember is some lady eating spaghetti by twirling them around her fork with her free hand but I doubt that’s a common thing.
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@gurumeditation@defcon.social 2026-08-01 06:57
@hacks4pancakes@infosec.exchange Later I'll be eating somewhere likely to feature Americans, and I shall be using this information to sleuth. Now, in this case, does American == north American, or USian? How do Canadians use cutlery?
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@eviljarred@infosec.exchange 2026-08-01 06:57
@hacks4pancakes@infosec.exchange I’ve heard different explanations for this which tie the switch to westward American expansion, where Americans gave up the knife altogether and used the fork sideways as a cutting instrument - this allowed them to eliminate carrying one knife for every fork on the wagon trains, thereby cutting down on weight. No idea if there is truth to this or not. It took 2 years for me to learn how to use the fork in my left hand and knife in my right after moving to Portugal! My kid, who was five when she came here, kept calling it out (she learned to eat the European way in the canteen at school where they make the kids hold the knife and fork in this manner) so my wife and I had to adapt 😂
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@mainec@fromm.social 2026-08-01 07:06
@hacks4pancakes@infosec.exchange thank you for teaching me a new bit of knowledge. I did not know this difference in table manners and would not have expected that even with something so basic such differences could exist.
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@pagra@piaille.fr 2026-08-01 07:13
@hacks4pancakes@infosec.exchange which one of the three forks are you talking about? 😂
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@scottwillsey@social.lol 2026-08-01 07:23
@hacks4pancakes@infosec.exchange I’ve always done the fork in the left hand facing down when cutting stuff. Lifetime American. 😄
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@retrofan64@oldbytes.space 2026-08-01 07:29
@hacks4pancakes@infosec.exchange so I've been "right" this whole time? The hand switching seemed like a waste of time. Then again, only being able to do something with one particular hand seemed like a waste of resources. And in addition to that, I also practiced drawing circles in opposite directions with each hand and writing mirror text with my left and... ... Okay yeah, I'm probably neurodivergent.
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@calicoday@mastodon.gamedev.place 2026-08-01 07:36
@hacks4pancakes@infosec.exchange wow. I never clocked Americans were doing that. I'm mostly ambidextrous, so I expect to be able to fork with whatever hand, but mostly I think it's about knife. If the knife's present, everything else just has to make do.
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@david@theblower.au 2026-08-01 07:43
@hacks4pancakes@infosec.exchange Not American here, but I eat with a fork in my right hand (I'm right handed) and cut with knife in my left. However, if I'm only using a knife (like to butter bread) and no fork or spoon is involved, I use my right hand (once again, right handed).
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@pixelpusher220@dmv.community 2026-08-01 07:48
@hacks4pancakes@infosec.exchange full blooded USian here. I'm right handed and mostly use fork/left knife/right when using both. But I probably favor fork in right hand when eating something that doesn't require a knife.
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@michaeljoseph@tech.lgbt 2026-08-01 07:53
@hacks4pancakes@infosec.exchange lol I learned about this in my early 20s. Taught myself to eat the “European” way. It’s been noticed by people when I travel. “You don’t eat like an American.”
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@GuillaumeRossolini@infosec.exchange 2026-08-01 07:55
@hacks4pancakes@infosec.exchange French here, raised by left-handed parents My sister and I could never bring ourselves to use the knife the way we were supposed to; we were confused first that our parents would apparently set the table in reverse, being confused themselves, and by the entire silliness of it all So we chose one way and we stuck to it, and if anyone ever noticed, usually as soon as I sit down and feel the need to correct the position of the set in front of me, the most that happened was a curious comment, our amused response and their defeated agreement that indeed, it’s so much easier When I set a table for guests, I just make a slight effort to picture how I’d place everything for myself and I flip that
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@mpsi@toot.lv 2026-08-01 07:56
@hacks4pancakes@infosec.exchange I spent 15 years in China and definitely prefer using chopsticks whenever possible, which means I usually eat with chopsticks at home.
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@zedaardv@mastodon.world 2026-08-01 08:17
@hacks4pancakes@infosec.exchange I completely forgot about that zig-zag method. I'm left-handed and grew up, in the US, with a german father. He might have taught us the european style, but i remember observing the zig-zag and thinking I don't do that because I hold the fork in my dominant hand. Been living over in Europe for 20+ years, so I kinda forgot zig-zag existis. thanks for the awkward reminder. 🙂
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@jbaggs@infosec.exchange 2026-08-01 08:25
@hacks4pancakes@infosec.exchange Now catch a left handed American that refuses to follow fork customs and everyone assumes they are of British descent. (I still eat Ethiopian food right handed, because of the implications.) Side note: My immediate family was left hand dominant. 2 out of 3 kids and one parent, with the other questionable because he got "trained" out of using his left hand by teachers in the 1940's and 50's.
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@milomb@infosec.exchange 2026-08-01 08:56
@hacks4pancakes@infosec.exchange so while raised in US with some emphasis on table manners, I was unaware of the formal zigzag US thing. I wonder if that’s because we weren’t “high-falutin’” enough or if because I’m from an area that was heavily German immigrant in makeup (central Pennsylvania)
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@oddtail@meow.social 2026-08-01 08:57
@hacks4pancakes@infosec.exchange "So every time you cut something you set the fork down and switch hands, then switch back." What the eff... is that real? That can't be real xD
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@lianna@micro.webgarden.click 2026-08-01 08:58
@hacks4pancakes@infosec.exchange I asked my American friends about this and none of them ever heard about this...? All of them eat with fork in let hand, knife in right hand, as they were taught.
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@nickapos@mastodon.oncrete.uk 2026-08-01 08:59
@hacks4pancakes@infosec.exchange In a world with so many problems it is really weird that people pay attention to how other people use fork and knife.
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@dey@mastodon.social 2026-08-01 09:03
@hacks4pancakes@infosec.exchange as someone who went through ups and downs myself, people accept you as a foreigner trying and then you accept to yourself (harder) that you are a foreigner trying as well. It takes a few years. I use knife on left hand fork on right. If someone has a comment I reply I am left handed only when eating (i am not) :D :D
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@recantha@mastodon.social 2026-08-01 09:07
@hacks4pancakes@infosec.exchange No kidding! I did not know that. :-)
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@cford@toot.thoughtworks.com 2026-08-01 09:13
@hacks4pancakes@infosec.exchange Wow, I'd ignorantly interpreted switching fork hands as a lack of "correct" dining etiquette, someone choosing to use their dominant right and instead of the "correct" left one.
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@not2b@sfba.social 2026-08-01 09:20
@hacks4pancakes@infosec.exchange I am a left handed American, and I use the most efficient approach for me: fork in left hand, no switching. The "right" way was pointed out to me when I was young and I just ignored it. I suggest just continuing to use the style of eating you grew up with. People might notice and figure out where you are from, but they will catch on to that anyway.
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@denny@boing.world 2026-08-01 09:21
@hacks4pancakes@infosec.exchange I eat like this, and I am not American nor raised by one. I makes more sense to me - I'm right-handed, so I want to hold the most active implement in my right hand. I don't get why we're taught to use our less coordinated hand to hold a pointy stick that we're about to wave near our face.
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@jwcph@helvede.net 2026-08-01 09:29
@hacks4pancakes@infosec.exchange It's also how you can tell when an American actor is playing an Englishman 😝 while Downey does cut his food with the knife in his right hand in this clip, it would be unusual in the extreme to see a non-American adult put their food in their mouth with this weird fork grip 👉 https://youtu.be/388-rOzD9SM?si=o_q051bexJXzCJtS&t=239 Americans appear to be far more likely than most other people to hold their fork vertically, like a microphone they're about to sing into, when putting food in their mouth.
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@rachelplusplus@tech.lgbt 2026-08-01 10:09
@hacks4pancakes@infosec.exchange It's funny, as a kid I decided that the "american" way to use a knife and fork was obviously the best way, and utterly refused to learn the "proper" (european) way to do it. I even remember my parents chiding me about "eating like an american!" But I was a stubborn kid, so that never changed my mind :P
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@irina@wandering.shop 2026-08-01 10:36
@hacks4pancakes@infosec.exchange When our kids were at an age to be learning table manners we had an American house-guest and had to be very clear: THAT is good manners for HER, you do it as you've learned from us!
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@felface@infosec.exchange 2026-08-01 10:42
@hacks4pancakes@infosec.exchange that sounds horrendously complicated and very French
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@elladan@kind.social 2026-08-01 10:49
@hacks4pancakes@infosec.exchange this post and the responses are wild to me, because not only have I never seen people eating the "American" way in America, I've also never seen anyone criticize someone about how they hold a fork. But apparently this happens all the time! I just... You don't just point and laugh at someone like that? It's like a whole different world!
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@suethepooh@mastodon.social 2026-08-01 11:06
@hacks4pancakes@infosec.exchange american, fork in left hand when using a knife. only table rules i remember are chew with mouth closed and elbows off the table.
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@w00p@infosec.exchange 2026-08-01 11:26
@hacks4pancakes@infosec.exchange lol I always thought it looked super fake how ppl are eating in movies, but turns out it's genuine?? :D
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@david@social.ofaolain.com 2026-08-01 11:42
@hacks4pancakes@infosec.exchange that's pretty cool. I came to the States with UK parents and so I ate like Australians and was the odd one out. I'm so glad you're settling in, even getting the "whilst" down!
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@CliffsEsport@mastodon.social 2026-08-01 12:43
@hacks4pancakes@infosec.exchange in WW2? do you have sources for that? Find it curious I am from midwest like you but bit older and I have never used knife and fork that way and my grandparents never commented on it, and my maternal grandfather was in end of WW2, if Japan hadn't surrendered he would have been part of the invasion forces.
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@tj53@mastodon.me.uk 2026-08-01 12:48
@hacks4pancakes@infosec.exchange I recently taught myself to eat with opposite cutlery because it seemed neat. It is definitely hard to change