Dinner Fork

In Western etiquette, there are two primary styles for using a knife and fork while eating. The style used mostly in the United States of America, which sometimes called the zigzag method, differs from the style mostly used in Europe and British Commonwealth countries. Etiquette, also known as decorum, is the code that governs the expectations of social behavior, the conventional norm. ... Traditional Finnish puukko knife A knife is a sharp-edged hand tool used for cutting. ... Assorted forks. ... World map showing Europe Political map Europe is one of the seven continents of Earth which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiographic one, leading to various perspectives about Europes borders. ... The Commonwealth of Nations, usually known as The Commonwealth, is an association of 53 independent sovereign states, almost all of which are former territories of the British Empire. ...

American style

The knife is held in the right hand and the fork in the left. Holding food to the plate with the fork, a single bite-sized piece is cut with the knife. The knife is then placed towards the top and right of the plate and the fork transferred to the right hand, with the left hand falling to the lap of the consumer. The cut piece is then eaten using the fork, wielded in a 'spoon-like' manner rather than to impale the food. The process is then repeated as necessary. A left-handed consumer can retain the fork in the stronger hand, although the knife is still released. A common silver spoon A spoon is a common eating utensil, or item of cutlery, somewhat like a small spade, with a bowl-shaped end on a handle, that occurs in a number of sizes and forms. ...

Variations

While cutting, the fork may be held upside down with the handle along the palm (hidden handle). Because most forks have a curve this will point the tines downward towards the food.

Some Americans choose to disregard the knife entirely, using a fork in their right hand and cutting their food by sawing with the edge of their fork.

European style

This contrasts with the European manner of constantly holding both knife and fork, in the right and left hands respectively, throughout consumption. The hand grasp is also different, in Europe it is considered better manners not to hold a knife or fork as one would hold a pen, but to have the handle running along the palm and extending out to be held by thumb and forefinger. This style is sometimes called 'hidden handle'. This method is also common in Canada and other former parts of the British Empire. The British Empire in 1897, marked in pink, the traditional colour for Imperial British dominions on maps. ...

The cause of the difference in custom is uncertain. It is believed to have originated because the 16th century American colonists had established themselves before the fork, and any custom of its use, had become widespread in Europe. The implement did not become widespread in Europe (certainly northern Europe) until the 18th century, and was not adopted in the United States until the 19th century. The American use of blunt-ended knives was also a factor. (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ... For colonies not part of the 13 colonies see European colonization of the Americas or British colonization of the Americas. ... (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Another belief is that, as the frontier was a rough and ready place, the placing of the knife back on the table indicated to others that you had no intentions of hurting them. The dropping of the left hand into the lap near a pistol or another knife, however, was an important safety precaution. Look up lap in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A Browning 9 millimeter Hi-Power Ordnance pistol of the French Navy, 19th century, using a Percussion cap mechanism Derringers were small and easily hidden. ...