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Post by pizzawheel on Oct 7, 2015 0:14:07 GMT 2
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Post by OnlyMark on Oct 7, 2015 7:58:35 GMT 2
I like the list, especially the repetition of there being no guns.
Also, "Many doorknobs, buildings and tools are older than America"
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Post by Netsuke on Oct 7, 2015 9:18:33 GMT 2
Some of those observations are applicable here too.
To his observation "If you're over 60, you get free tv and bus and rail passes", add if you're over 60 your prescriptions are free, even if you're a tourist.
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Post by pizzawheel on Oct 8, 2015 16:54:31 GMT 2
Some of those observations are applicable here too. To his observation "If you're over 60, you get free tv and bus and rail passes", add if you're over 60 your prescriptions are free, even if you're a tourist. Well Queensland is nearly Britain, isn't it. ;-) |
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Post by lumi on Oct 8, 2015 17:05:38 GMT 2
What on earth does he mean when he says that the British use forks upside down?
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Post by shrjeff on Oct 8, 2015 17:39:29 GMT 2
What on earth does he mean when he says that the British use forks upside down? a fork is curved so one can scoop up food in the bowl (think spork)... and to a non-brit's eyes there is nothing more ludicrous than seeing somebody hold the tines downward and carefully use his knife to put food on the back of the fork... obviously someone with a tremor would never be able to perform such a balancing act and get the food into his mouth, poor soul... |
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Post by OnlyMark on Oct 8, 2015 18:08:56 GMT 2
It is proper to have the fork in the left hand and with the tines pointing downwards. USAnians obviously do it differently and to them, their way is the right way. It does seem a lot of hassle though to have to keep swapping hands with the fork.
With it pointing downwards there are foods, like peas, that refuse to stay on the back of the fork. That is why you should either, a) lightly crush the peas so they will stay put or, b) combine the troublesome food with something that will bind it together such as potato, mashed swede or whatever you have on your plate that will do the job.
Those with a tremor are forgiven for doing it differently as we are a sympathetic nation, though also we'd never draw attention to the guest that did it.
To a Brits's eyes there is nothing more ludicrous than seeing someone constantly turning their fork around and back around depending on if they are wanting to cut their meat or other food, then scooping it up onto the upturned fork and seemingly randomly putting the knife down and swapping hands to eat.
The proper use of a fork determines if you are a gentleman/lady or not, and/or if you are from the Colonies.
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Post by lumi on Oct 8, 2015 18:29:32 GMT 2
I do it the British and American way, depending on who I'm dining with! Obviously my most posh friends get the British version  I don't need to swap hands to use he fork like a scoop, though obviously it's easier with the right hand (but annoying to put the knife down). I tend to do the right handed fork method if I'm eating something that doesn't require cutting like pasta. But then if I'm at home my utensil of choice will always be a spoon! I've adapted the Asian way of eating and usually only use a spoon and a fork. I can cut, scoop and do all sorts with just the 2 utensils  |
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Post by OnlyMark on Oct 8, 2015 18:39:45 GMT 2
Even though I know how to do it properly I still tend to put my face in the bowl. Saves in washing up.
Well, apart from my face afterwards.
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Post by lumi on Oct 8, 2015 19:14:09 GMT 2
Even though I know how to do it properly I still tend to put my face in the bowl. Saves in washing up. Well, apart from my face afterwards. You'd be better off eating with your hands. Then you could quite easily lick them clean!   |
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Post by auntieannie on Oct 8, 2015 21:40:08 GMT 2
I realise that since I've been mostly eating alone and rarely needing a knife, I'm eating like 'a pleb/the great unwashed' most of the time. shame on me.
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Post by Voy on Oct 9, 2015 1:33:03 GMT 2
heh. seeing as my mother was a Yank and my father was a Brit, and we were in the US -- Mummy tried to teach me to eat the Merkin way - switching around, but , being no dummy ( If I say so myself) I flat refused and eat like Daddy - it is SO much easier and more efficient - plus you can get a bit of everything into one bite !
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Post by pizzawheel on Oct 9, 2015 2:56:09 GMT 2
Always said you were a classy bird, Voy
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Post by Voy on Oct 9, 2015 14:25:26 GMT 2
 *smooch*
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Post by lumi on Oct 9, 2015 14:33:15 GMT 2
Do most Americans rally eat like that, swapping their knife and fork to different hands depending if they are eating or cutting? I've never noticed anyone doing this before and I've dined with plenty of Americans.
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Post by shrjeff on Oct 9, 2015 14:36:27 GMT 2
yup, that's how we were taught to eat properly...
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Post by lumi on Oct 9, 2015 15:47:16 GMT 2
Wow, I am so amazed at that. I've certainly learned something new today.
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Post by Netsuke on Oct 14, 2015 21:14:10 GMT 2
Do most Americans rally eat like that, swapping their knife and fork to different hands depending if they are eating or cutting? I've never noticed anyone doing this before and I've dined with plenty of Americans. Yes, Americans eat with their fork the wrong way. It looks so inelegant. We were taught to hold a knife and fork properly and woe betide any who dared turn their fork around so the tines were upward facing. Small children excepted, by the time of aged five, it was fork tines down. And never, never, never, never, lick the bowl. And always move your soup spoon away from you when eating soup, never toward you. And do not slurp your soup. |
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Post by Scrubb on Oct 14, 2015 22:16:19 GMT 2
I've noticed that a lot of Americans use the side of their fork to cut if at all possible, so they don't have to keep putting the knife down and switching hands. But yes, they hold the fork in the right hand to eat and don't use the knife to push food onto the fork.
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Post by pizzawheel on Oct 15, 2015 3:33:16 GMT 2
I think when the newly liberated Americans were dismantling the stifling english etiquette, they did throw the baby out with the bathwater in many cases.
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Post by shrjeff on Oct 15, 2015 8:44:20 GMT 2
this thread has provided me with a deep insight: brits like peas so much because it's easy to mash them on the bottom of the fork while other foods do better being scooped up...
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Post by pizzawheel on Oct 15, 2015 12:45:48 GMT 2
Haha are you standing in for VinnyD there shrjeff?
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Post by shrjeff on Oct 15, 2015 13:17:13 GMT 2
nope, pizza... i truly was amazed to watch my british friends spend so much effort piling food on a convex surface when they had a concave one available... and then, due to this thread, i had an image of them squashing peas on the tines and realized that soft, squishy stuff worked best...
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Post by Voy on Oct 15, 2015 15:02:42 GMT 2
yep - there is a theory/sequence to it all - stab a piece of meat, add a dab of potato or so, and then smush the veg on - everything in one yummy bite! you can't do that in the concave theory..
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Post by Netsuke on Oct 15, 2015 22:16:01 GMT 2
this thread has provided me with a deep insight: brits like peas so much because it's easy to mash them on the bottom of the fork while other foods do better being scooped up... The beauty of peas is they stick to the mashed potato which you have on your fork. Never mash peas, yukkies. Mashed spuds, peas then dip it all in gravy - yum. I try to get a bit of everything on the fork, bit of meat with the vegies tastes wonderful. |
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Post by Scrubb on Oct 16, 2015 2:43:16 GMT 2
I eat my peas with honey
I've done it all my life,
It makes the peas taste funny,
but it keeps them on my knife.
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Post by Voy on Oct 16, 2015 15:08:17 GMT 2
and that ^ is from the days when forks were literally for just holding down the meat while you cut it, and you ate off the very wide blade of the knife..
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Post by lumi on Oct 27, 2015 23:29:24 GMT 2
Did you know that peas are served (for an extra charge) with the meatballs at Ikea?! Ikea food variants often give you clues to the country and this is evidence of just how much the Brits love their peas. I still find mushy peas to be a bit odd. They're even served (for an extra charge) with takeaway fish and chips!!
I watched my British friends with their utensils last time we went out as a group as a result of this discussion. It was so odd to watch them all push food onto the back of their forks. I wonder if they noticed me eating my risotto with just a fork - in my right hand, used to scoop like a spoon!
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Post by auntieannie on Oct 29, 2015 22:41:24 GMT 2
On the very few occasions I have been seen eating in public since this thread was started, I noticed that I have kept a modicum of social graces. Unless it was the thought of this thread that made me do it...
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I don't need to swap hands to use he fork like a scoop, though obviously it's easier with the right hand (but annoying to put the knife down). I tend to do the right handed fork method if I'm eating something that doesn't require cutting like pasta. But then if I'm at home my utensil of choice will always be a spoon! I've adapted the Asian way of eating and usually only use a spoon and a fork. I can cut, scoop and do all sorts with just the 2 utensils 
*smooch*