table manner

不同国家的餐桌礼仪（英语）

（America）General Behavior

?Chew with your mouth closed.

?Do not talk with food in your mouth.

?Do not talk at an excessively loud volume.

?Refrain from coughing, sneezing or blowing nose at the table.

?Never tilt back your chair while at the table. Sit in a relaxed and comfortable position, but do not "slouch."

?Do not "play with" your food, or with your table utensils.

?Do not make loud or unusual noises while eating.

?Do not point out poor manners of others.

?It is generally acceptable to rest your forearms on the table, though you should take care to never rest your elbows on the table.

?Say "Excuse me," or "Excuse me. I'll be right back," before leaving the table. Do not state that you are going to the restroom.

?Do not stare at anyone while he or she is eating.

?Never talk on your phone or text a friend at the table. If an urgent matter arises, apologize, excuse yourself, and step away from the table so

your conversation does not disturb the others.

?Do not slurp your food or eat loudly.

?If food must be removed from the mouth for some reason, it should be done so in the same manner it was conveyed, e.g. with a fork, by hand, or with a spoon. Do not spit food into your napkin.

?Burping or sneezing at the table should be avoided. If you do so, say, "Excuse me."

?Never tell people what to do other than someone you are responsible for, such as a child.

?Men should not wear a hat at the dinner table. Hostesses should also not wear hats inside their own homes.

?Before asking for additional helpings, always consume the food on your plate first.

?Never wave or point your silverware while talking or sitting at the dinner table.

?Give your dinner partners on both sides equal opportunities for conversation.

?Wait until your hostess picks up her fork or spoon before starting to eat. ?Gentleman should stand when a lady leaves or rejoins the table in formal social settings.

?The gentlemen stand behind their chairs until the women are all seated before sitting down to a formal meal.

?Keep your napkin on your lap. At more formal occasions all diners will wait to place their napkins on their laps until the host or hostess places his or her napkin on his or her lap. While sitting at the table, do not

remove your napkin. When leaving the table, some place the napkin on their chair, while others place it to the left of the plate. Etiquette does not have a fixed rule on this matter.

?When eating barbecue or other very messy foods such as cracked crab in an informal setting which must be eaten with fingers and creates

splashing or flying food particles, a 'bib' napkin may be provided for and used by adults. Wet wipes or paper napkins should be provided to clean the hands. In formal settings, bibs of any sort are improper, and food should be prepared so that it may be eaten properly with the provided utensils.

?Hosts should always provide cloth napkins to guests. When paper napkins are provided, they should be treated the same as cloth napkins, and therefore should not be balled up or torn.

Utensils

?The fork is used to convey

solid food to the mouth. Do

not use your fingers unless

eating foods customarily

eaten as such, such as bread,

asparagus spears, chicken wings, pizza, etc.

?The fork may be used either in the American (use the fork in your left hand while cutting; switch to right hand to pick up and eat a piece) or the Continental (fork can be in the left or right hand) -- either is acceptable.

?The knife blade should be placed on the edge of your plate when not in use. The blade should always face inward.

?When you have finished eating soup from a bowl or large "soup plate,"

the spoon should be placed on the flat plate beneath, if one is present.

?As courses are served, use your silverware from the outside moving inward toward the main plate. Dessert utensils are either above the

main plate or served with dessert.

?Never use a knife or spoon when a fork will do.

?Be sure to match the size of the spoon with the size of the bowl. Often the soup spoon is too small and the spoon for the cup or bowl is too

large.

At the end of the meal

When you have finished your meal, place all used utensils onto your plate together, on the right side, pointed down, so the waiter knows you have finished. Do not place used utensils on the table.

Except in a public restaurant, do not ask to take some of your uneaten food home, and never do so when attending a formal dinner.

When you have finished your meal, it is considered impolite to leave a dirty napkin on your dinner plate. Some apply the standard that you should fold it loosely and leave to the left of your plate when you leave at the end or during a meal. Others believe it is appropriate to leave the napkin on the chair.

Wait for your host or hostess to rise before getting up from a dinner party table. Thank your host and/or hostess when leaving a dinner party.

Once dessert, after-dinner coffee, or the equivalent is served, be wary not overstay your welcome. The party who first wishes to end the event should rise and say something like, "This has been such a nice evening. We hope we can see you again soon."

British table manners

The fork is held in your left hand and the knife is held in your right when used at the same time.

You should hold your knife with the handle in your palm and your fork in the other hand with the prongs pointing downwards.

If you’re eating a dessert, your fork (if you have one) should be held in the left hand and the spoon in the right.

When eating soup, you should hold your spoon in your right hand and tip the bowl away from you, scooping the soup in movements away from yourself.

It is not acceptable to use your fingers at the table to eat or push food onto your fork. You may, however, eat some foods such as fruit, sandwiches, burgers, crisps, chips or pizza with your fingers.

If there are a number of knives or forks, then you should start from the outside set working your way in as each course is served.

Drinks should always be to the right of your plate with the bread roll to the left. When eating bread rolls, break off a piece before buttering. Use your knife only to butter the bread, not to cut it.

You should not start eating before your host does or instructs you to do so. At larger meals, it is considered okay to start eating once others have been served.

When you’re finished, place your knife and fork together at six o’clock with your fork on the left (tines facing up) and knife on the right, with the knife blade facing in. This signals that you are finished.

Your napkin should never be screwed up. Nor should it be folded neatly as that would suggest that your host might plan to use it again without washing it - just leave it neatly but loosely.

Never blow your nose on your napkin. Place it on your lap and use it to dab your mouth if you make a mess.

It is considered rude to answer the telephone at the table. If you need to take an urgent call, excuse yourself and go outside.

Always ask for permission from the host and excuse yourself if you need to leave the table. You should place your napkin on your seat until you return.

If you must le ave the table or are resting, your fork should be at eight o’clock and your knife at four o’clock (with the blade inwards). Once an item of cutlery has been used, it should not touch the table again.

The food should be brought to your mouth on the back of the fork; you should sit straight and not lean towards your plate.

Dishes should be served from the right, and taken away from the right. Unless the food is placed on your plate at the table, then it should arrive from the left. Drinks should be served from the right.

Never lean across somebody else’s plate. If you need something to be passed, ask the person closest to it. If you have to pass something, only pass it if you are closest to it and pass it directly to them if you can.

Salt & pepper should be passed together.

Do not take food from a neighbor’s plate and don’t ask to do so.

You must not put your elbows on the table.

If pouring a drink for yourself, offer to pour a drink for your neighbors before serving yourself.

If extra food is on the table, ask others first if they would like it before taking it yourself.

When chewing food, close your mouth and only talk when you have swallowed it. Working class or regional British etiquette is not to converse at all, unless it is necessary.

Swallow all food before eating more or having a drink.

Do not slurp your food or eat loudly.

Never pick food out of your teeth with your fingernails.

Try to eat all the food you are served.

Wine glasses should be held by the stem in the case of white wines, and by cupping the bowl in the case of red wines

If Port is served after the meal, then the decanter or bottle should be passed to the person on your left and never passed to the right.

Always remember “regular” manners. Remember to say "please" and "thank you".

Chinese table manners

These are mostly concerned with the use of chopsticks.

Otherwise generally Chinese table manners are rather

more informal compared to Western cultures, such as

talking with the mouth full, which may be acceptable but

better not to do so.

Do not start making the first move until the elderly or

guest of honor have done so, as a sign of respect. Also

sometimes dishes are passed to the elderly first before

the dinner starts (part of the Confucian tradition of

respecting seniors).

In meals primarily conducted as business socializing or business meetings, it is best not to eat until fully filled if you are invited as a guest for business purposes.

Leave the best food in a dish to the elderly, children, or the guest of honor, even if they are your favorite food items.

Chopsticks must always be held in the correct manner. It should be held between the thumb and fingers of the right hand,

Chopsticks are traditionally held in the right hand only, even by the left-handed. Although chopsticks may now be found in either hand, a few still consider

left-handed chopstick use improper etiquette. One explanation for the treatment of such usage as improper is that this can symbolize argument, as the chopsticks may collide between the left-handed and right-handed user.

When communal chopsticks are supplied with shared plates of food, it is considered impolite to use your own chopsticks to pick up the food from the shared plate or eat using the communal chopsticks. An exception to this rule is made in intimate family dinners where family members may not mind the use of one's own chopsticks to transfer food.

It is considered impolite to use the blunt end of the chopsticks to transfer food from a common dish to your own plate or bowl. Use the communal chopsticks instead.

Never wave your chopsticks around as if they were an extension of your hand gestures, bang them like drumsticks, or use them to move bowls or plates.

Decide what to pick up before reaching with chopsticks. Do not hover around or poke looking for special ingredients.

Pick the food on the dish that is at the top and nearest to you in distance. Never rummage through the dish or pick from the far side for your favorite food.

In general, the more conservative Chinese frown upon the practice of picking more than one or two bites of food in your bowl or serving plate as if you were eating in the Western way. Most Chinese would understand the practice during infectious disease epidemics, or if the person is from the West.

If both a serving bowl - separate from rice bowl - and plate are provided, never put any food items to be eaten onto the serving plate. This rule is relaxed if the person is from the West.

After you have picked up a food item, do not put it back in the dish.

When picking up a piece of food, never use the tips of your chopsticks to poke through the food as if you were using a fork. Exceptions include tearing larger items apart such as vegetables. In informal use, small, difficult to pick-up items such as cherry tomatoes or fish balls may be stabbed but this use is frowned upon by traditionalists.

If noodle soup is served, many consider a more elegant way to eat by picking the noodle into a serving spoon first, and eating from the spoon, rather than slurping directly from the bowl into mouth using chopsticks.

Chopsticks can be rested horizontally on one's plate or bowl to keep them off the table entirely. A chopstick rest can also be used to keep the points off the table.

Never stab chopsticks into a bowl of rice, leaving them standing upwards. Any stick-like object facing upward resembles the incense sticks that some Asians use as offerings to deceased family members. This is considered the ultimate faux pas on the dining table.

Chinese traditionally eat rice from a small bowl held in the left hand. The rice bowl is raised to the mouth and the rice pushed into the mouth using the chopsticks. Some Chinese find it offensive to scoop rice from the bowl using a spoon. If rice is served on a plate, as is more common in the West, it is acceptable and more practical to eat it with a fork or spoon. The thumb must always be above the edge of the bowl.

It is acceptable to transfer food to people who have a close relation with you (e.g. parents, grandparents, children or significant others) if you notice they are having difficulty picking up the food.

Traditionally, it is polite for the youngest members of the table to address each and everyone of the elderly members of the table before a meal starts and literally tell them to "eat rice", which means "go ahead and start the meal", to show respect.

The host should always make sure the guests drinks are sufficiently full. One should not pour for ones self, but should (if thirsty) offer to pour for a neighbor. When your drink is being poured, you should say "thank you" and/or tap your fingers on the table to show appreciation. The story behind the finger tapping can be found here.

When people wish to clink drinks together in the form of a cheer, it is important to observe that younger members should clink the edge of their drink below the edge of an elder to show respect.

When eating food that contains bones, it is customary that the bones be spat out onto the table to the right of the dining plate in a neat pile.

The eldest person present, or the guest of honor, is given a seat facing the door.