Redallnite
04-20-02, 09:45PM
I learn something new every day!!
What do you do with a napkin at a formal dinner? Isn't it rather redneck to unfold it to tuck it under the chin or to spread it on the lap? Is it to be unfolded at all? Gudrun Korell, Croydon, Surrey
It is not redneck but polite to unfold your napkin. It is the done thing. It is normal then to spread the napkin across your lap. To tuck it under your chin is considered a bit coarse in England (though not in France or Italy). It is obviously sensible when eating something with messy potential, such as oysters, bouillabaisse or spaghetti. At formal dinner in the South of England you would need to be very old, very self-assured, very French or very unconventional to tuck your napkin under your chin. Or you would be trying to epater la bourgeoisie. Which is a perfectly understandable ambition. But it just causes waves of unease at a formal occasion. And creating unease is unkind, and therefore impolite.
I only thought that rednecks were in the South in the United States.. Go figure.
What do you do with a napkin at a formal dinner? Isn't it rather redneck to unfold it to tuck it under the chin or to spread it on the lap? Is it to be unfolded at all? Gudrun Korell, Croydon, Surrey
It is not redneck but polite to unfold your napkin. It is the done thing. It is normal then to spread the napkin across your lap. To tuck it under your chin is considered a bit coarse in England (though not in France or Italy). It is obviously sensible when eating something with messy potential, such as oysters, bouillabaisse or spaghetti. At formal dinner in the South of England you would need to be very old, very self-assured, very French or very unconventional to tuck your napkin under your chin. Or you would be trying to epater la bourgeoisie. Which is a perfectly understandable ambition. But it just causes waves of unease at a formal occasion. And creating unease is unkind, and therefore impolite.
I only thought that rednecks were in the South in the United States.. Go figure.