Comment by 20k | Hacker News Reader

Comment by 20k | Hacker News Reader

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Its always extremely funny reading wikipedia articles about a countries customs. For the UK:

>Bread is always served and can be placed on the table cloth itself

This is extremely rare, to the point where I can't remember the last time I saw it. Is bread really.. always served?

> In the United Kingdom, the fork tines face upward while sitting on the table.

Tines down isn't uncommon in the UK either

>if a knife is not needed – such as when eating pasta – the fork can be held in the right hand

I mean it can be, but its fairly uncommon

>it is permissible to place a small piece of bread at the end of the fork for dipping

Its also 100% fine to dip bread in a sauce with your fingers. Putting bread on a fork if you've licked the fork and then dipping the bread would cause everyone to hate you, so *don't do this*

> Is bread really.. always served?

At any kind of formal dining? Yes, absolutely, I would expect there to be a bread roll & a pat of butter served at the beginning of the meal. Both in restaurants & formal dinners in my experience.

It's not an absolute rule though & you generally wouldn't expect bread to be served like this at home in the UK. I think the French are more likely to serve bread at home as well.

> >if a knife is not needed – such as when eating pasta – the fork can be held in the right hand

> I mean it can be, but its fairly uncommon

So the norm is that if you're eating one-handed, you use your non-dominant hand? That seems really counterintuitive to me; is it because you're so used to having the fork in the non-dominant hand that it feels awkward the other way? Which hand do you use when eating with a spoon?

Spoons always go in the right hand (eg fork and spoon), but yes I'd say people usually use the fork in the non dominant hand. Fork in the right hand is slightly 'uncouth', possibly due to its american associations

I suspect people who are motivated enough to contribute to the Wikipedia article are a bit over-interested in memorizing social rules.

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