How do you hold your fork?

[Cruzan]

[sakabatou]

1. Pen Grip

[wildhorses]

2. pen grip although sometimes I turn it over and use it as a partner

to my knife:shrug:

[calico1]

3. Pen grip. The shovel grip reminds me of

prison movies where the inmates usually hold it that way.

[Deja Q]

4. I use my fingers, sorry.

:rofl:

[tjwmason]

In my left hand for a start

Pen grip, but the picture is up-sidedown compared to how I hold it.

[Gormy Cuss]

9. Ah, you've raised the really interesting question.

Tines up or tines down?

[Aristus]

13. Tines down. That's what I call the "pointer" grip.

Three fingers grasp the handle of the fork, while the index finger "points" toward the tines. Tines down, the fork is then directed toward the mouth. It's considered the most sophisticated manner of using a fork.

[Gormy Cuss]

17. "Tines down" just looks weird.

To my eye it looks like the person is licking the food from the fork much of the time because the fork is pulled down, exposing the lengthening tines, rather than the straight out method of most "tines up" eaters. I've been told that "tines down" is more elegant because the mouth isn't opened as much, but in practice I've witnessed that this is not necessarily so. It's also as easy to overload the fork by stabbing a wad of food on it as it is to use a tines up fork as a shovel. The tines down choices seems to be growing in popularity in the U.S. I don't recall seeing it used by many Americans prior to the 1980s.

[tjwmason]

11. I've just realised why it took me a while to figure it out...

I don't actually hold it like either of the pictures. Prongs facing downwards, the end of the fork in the palm of my left-hand, held in place with middle, ring and little fingers - thumb providing balance, downward force by index finger on top of the fork.

I had been pondering the two pictures for ages, on the verge of going to get a fork to see how I hold it...

[Arugula Latte]

15. The way you hold it makes sense, tjwmason.

One of many things I don't understand about the United States is why we hold our forks in such a stupid way. You're supposed to cut with it in one hand and then switch hands -- why? :shrug: I usually rebel and hold it in the European way.

[gfindu]

5. It depends

on how hungary I am. :) Usually the pen grip.

[nickinSTL]

6. pen grip...left hand...

and don't switch to the right after cutting.

[TheFriendlyAnarchist]

7. I use pen grip, but balance it on my index finger, not middle

When I'm eating cereal though, I usually use shovel grip with my spoon

[querelle]

8. Pen Grip

But with the tines facing down towards the plate.

Q

[bigwillq]

10. Pen Grip (nt)

[RebelOne]

12. In my left hand, pen grip. n/t

[Goblinmonger]

14. What is this fork you speak of?

Why not just go the feedbag route?

[anarch]

16. depends if I'm using it to stab someone from above, or for a straight

thrust.

[Fox Mulder]

18. Pen grip, right hand.

[Deja Q]

19. Does this also apply to my spork?

[trof]

20. I guess usually neither?

I usually eat "European style"?

The European, or "Continental," style of using knife and fork is somewhat more efficient, and its practice is also common in the United States, where left-handed children are no longer forced to learn to wield a fork with their right hands. According to this method, the fork is held continuously in the left hand and used for eating. When food must be cut, the fork is used exactly as in the American style, except that once the bite has been separated from the whole, it is conveyed directly to the mouth on the downward-facing fork. Regardless of which style is used to operate fork and knife, it is important never to cut more than one or two bites at one time.

[riderinthestorm]

22. Did you ever hear the story of the famous American spy in WW11?

His parents were German and he spoke fluently. He was a successful American spy in Germany for a long time but was finally given away by the fact that he "swapped" his fork from his left to his right hand after cutting his meat. That's how he was caught.

My grandfather was a British spy who told me that story. Can't remember who the American was, but the moral of the story was basically that it was all a big crapshoot.

Did you ever read/hear about British spies who tried to infiltrate the ME? Their problem? They couldn't squat for hours like most ME tribal folks. The blood vessel that runs along the back of our legs becomes too large, it's not accustomed to being compressed for long periods like those in tribal regions whereby their bodies become acclimated to the eternal squatting. The Brits would start to squirm after a few moments of squatting since their legs were going to sleep!

Bingo. Caught!

[conscious evolution]

21. depends on what

kind of soup I'm eating.