Strange Customs
@arthurchappell (44941)
Preston, England
September 18, 2016 1:43pm CST
We have a few eccentric customs in the UK, and in my family. Here are some that I have seen.
1/. Setting aside a little unconsumed ale or wine.
It can be customary not to totally drain your glass but to leave a little beer or wine in the bottom, which to me seems a terrible waste. It may date back to pagan sacrificial offerings to Bacchus, but to me, as a God, he ought to be able to get beer without drinking my dregs.
2/. After meals setting the knife and fork to twenty to Four on the plate.
Once all the food has been consumed, my father would insist that cutlery be set to specific clock-face angles before we could leave the table.
3/. Using the back of the fork.
Though a dining fork is curved to easily hold solid food balanced on it, many northerners cram and squash food onto the back of the fork and eat with it upside down. I never understood this and I never do it.
Arthur Chappell
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10 responses
@Poppylicious (11134)
• United Kingdom
18 Sep 16
That's what I was always taught. Twenty to four is if you haven't finished and don't want your plate taken away.
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@arthurchappell (44941)
• Preston, England
18 Sep 16
my dad seemed to reverse the idea - I remember he used to hate cutlery being left in other patterns even on an empty plate @Poppylicious
@pgntwo (22405)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
18 Sep 16
@Poppylicious Your experience matches mine. I wonder how the custom originates...
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@jaboUK (64346)
• United Kingdom
19 Sep 16
I've never heard of leaving something in your glass, though it was common to do it with tea - that's where the dregs were when leafed tea was used.
Knives and forks had to be placed together in our house, and I always use the fork facing downwards when eating, though occasionally I will turn it over for something like peas.
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@Jessicalynnt (50523)
• Centralia, Missouri
19 Sep 16
the dregs thing might also stem from when the drink had...well matter in it still, so the stuff that wasnt filtered out well sunk to the bottom, rather like loose tea
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@arthurchappell (44941)
• Preston, England
20 Sep 16
@Jessicalynnt yes, with some drinks the dregs can still be like that
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@arthurchappell (44941)
• Preston, England
21 Sep 16
@Jessicalynnt probably just a marketing gimmick that caught on
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@Jessicalynnt (50523)
• Centralia, Missouri
21 Sep 16
@arthurchappell so I am fairly sure that's why that got started, and now people just do it because well, they always have, or, it's because the last bits taste either watered down or gross for whatever reason
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@arthurchappell (44941)
• Preston, England
19 Sep 16
@responsiveme there are lots of foods I eat by hand too
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@Happy2BeMe (99353)
• Canada
18 Sep 16
Very interesting. I have never heard of any of these before.
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@Poppylicious (11134)
• United Kingdom
18 Sep 16
I have never done any of these things. I wonder if they're peculiar to particular regions rather than England as a whole.
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