A woman has found herself in the middle of an online cutlery etiquette debate after admitting she holds her knife in her left hand to eat.
And this is all despite being right-handed in many other respects.
Reaching out to the online Mumsnet UK community in search of some clarity and support, or at least for someone else who does the same, the woman revealed that she is constantly mocked by her partner for holding her knife in her left hand and her fork in the other, even though she is right-handed.
Although there has never really been a widely-used rule, most people with dominant right hands will adopt the ‘knife in the right hand, fork in the left’ as the most common code of practice.
This is what prompted the woman to ask if she was being unreasonable “to think it doesn’t really matter”.
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Taking to the popular parenting forum, she wrote: “I’m right-handed. I hold my fork in my right hand and knife in left. This is the way I’ve always done it and felt comfortable [and] was never told or taught the ‘correct way’, [but] for years, my partner has joked about how I can’t hold a knife and fork properly and even mentioned trying it the other way.
“I’ve tried [and] it doesn’t feel right to me. He told me that his mother would probably tell me to switch hands as it’s her ‘pet hate’,”.
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“We’ve been together for 9 years [and] he’s not mentioned it for a while (until tonight), and I’ve avoided eating in front of his mother as much as possible else I feel paranoid – feels like I’m being watched”.
The mum insisted that generally her table manners are “okay”, adding: “I’m not a complete slob when It comes to eating or anything”, and while some of her fellow users replied to say she was being completely reasonable to eat this way, others admitted they would judge her for such habits.
“Well I’d definitely notice and judge you for it I’m afraid,” one wrote, with another adding: “It’s about table manners. ‘It isn’t comfortable for me’ is a bit of a pathetic excuse.”
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Someone else argued it that it “shows a disregard for social norms and disrespect”, saying it was “general laziness” if she “can’t be bothered spending a bit of time learning to do it properly”, which we have to admit does seem a little harsh, right?
Overall however, the general consensus seemed to be that it just didn’t really matter.
Someone told her: “I would just ignore or take the p*** out of the way your partner holds theirs, that’s what I’ve done to my husband in the past. Don’t let it put you off of eating in front of people, especially his mother”, with another adding: “Do what you feel most comfortable and ignore comments from small minded people.”
Someone else simply suggested: “Fork ’em!”, which we couldn’t have put any better ourselves.
What do you do?
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Electronic icons Kraftwerk announce first Manchester gig since 2017
Danny Jones
Pioneering German band Kraftwerk have announced their first UK tour since 2017, with fans having to wait almost a decade for another Manchester gig.
Thankfully, they’ll be heading back down the Autobahn and across the channel for a return to our shores soon enough with a long-awaited list of British and Irish live dates.
Kraftwerk remains one of the most groundbreaking groups in the electronic scene to this day, having paved the way for generations of new artists to keep experimenting with the genre in the 50+ years since their formation.
Heading back to Manchester early next year, die-hards will no doubt snap these tickets faster than you can say ‘Das Model’.
For anyone unaware of these veritable legends of electronica and the world of alternative/Euro-synth pop, Kraftwerk formed all the way back in 1970 and went on to shape the modern music industry, bridging the gap between music and the digital age.
Best known for tracks like ‘Computer Love’, ‘The Robots’, ‘Pocket Calculator’ and the aforementioned on named after the national motorway network, they spearheaded futurism in the musical landscape from the outset.
It seems only fitting, therefore, that their upcoming highly anticipated return to the UK comes as part of their ‘Multimedia’ tour.
While they have played a number of live shows all over the globe this year, including an extensive run in the US, next spring will be our domestic visit from Kraftwerk in nine long years.
Credit: Press shot (supplied)
You can see the full list of UK and Ireland tour dates – including a handful of Northern gigs – down below:
Spanning a total of 15 UK dates, as you can see, there will also be tickets to see Kraftwerk nearby in the likes of Liverpool and with our mates over in Sheffield.
Kraftwerk legend Ralf Hütter famously played a set inside our city’s velodrome at the National Cycling Centre for Manchester International Festival (MIF) back in 2009, and has collaborated with the event on multiple ocassions.
In fact, that very performance was seen as a turning point for MIF, so the Manc Kraftwerk connection speaks for itself; O2 members can obviously get pre-sale, but general admission tickets go live from 9am this Friday, 10 October.
Britain has a new ‘favourite’ curry – and we’re absolutely ashamed of the nation…
Danny Jones
Chicken tikka masala is reportedly no longer Britain’s ‘favourite’ curry, and after finding out what has replaced it, we have decided you all need to be stopped.
Following a study carried out by Foodhub for National Curry Week (3–9 October), researchers found that one dish overtook tikka masala as the most ordered curry in the UK. It’s chicken korma, apparently.
We’re not mad, we’re just disappointed and deeply, deeply confused.
For years, chicken tikka masala has been not only Britain’s favourite curry but the UK’s national dish – it’s a classic created by Indian migrants to appeal to the nation’s palate and has done so successfully for decades. We defy anyone to turn their noses up at a chicken tikka.
Now, everyone is entitled to their opinion and we’re not necessarily saying korma is a fundamentally bad curry, but it’s hardly ahead of favourites like a jalfrezi, a rogan josh or Smithy’s beloved bhunas — or so we thought.
In fact, sod it, we side with Smithy’s take on korma:
Strong order, to be fair.
Emma Stockman, a spokesperson for the food delivery service, said, “It is clear that curry is a staple dish when it comes to the UK’s takeaway favourites”, and that their findings “did not disappoint”.
Which results are you reading, Emma?
As explained, the long-reigning number one, chicken tikka, has dropped to second behind korma and chicken madras rounds off the top three when it comes to Britain’s favourite curry.
Despite us Mancs boasting the world-famous ‘Curry Mile’, the stats also supposedly showed that Carlisle was the city that ordered the most curry anywhere in the UK, averaging out at 3.5 times a week.
Meanwhile, 0161 was given the nickname ‘Naanchester’ as we apparently order an average of two naan breads per curry compared to other regions, with plain naan being the favourite.
Just plain? Come on. If you’re ordering as vanilla as that, you’d better at least be going bottomless with the actual main event — cue Manc curry kings, Zouk:
If these numbers are to be trusted, this also begs the question as to what this means for the country’s national dish: having been chicken tikka for so long, is it now chicken korma?
Because, sorry, we’re just absolutely NOT having that…
Give it to the Sunday roast or fish and chips while you take a step back and look at what you’ve done.
Emily Sergeant -
29th December 2020 
