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 Posted By: tinker 
Jun 22  # 1 of 27
I just can't resist this empty sub-forum. :)

I'm not sure if chopsticks are considered "cutlery" but they are eating utensils, right?

While out for dinner with some friends, one of them brought a Chinese girlfriend so we ate at a Chinese restaurant. I made a mistake, (or so I was told) of sticking my chopsticks on the rice in my bowl while I did something, and I was told this was impolite.

Does anyone know if this is only true with the Chinese, or if this is viewed as improper at all (because I've always done that and nobody commented on it till that day)?
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 Posted By: ainjel 
Jun 22  # 2 of 27
I've heard of this before, too. I think technically you're not supposed to stick your chopsticks vertically into any food. Sticking chopsticks into to rice is something that is only done at funerals for the rice that is placed on the altar.
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 Posted By: oldbay 
Jun 22  # 3 of 27
For me eating with chop sticks is like walking on stilts. I never learned to eat with chopsticks, and always feel embarassed in the Asian restaurants when I try to. I eat at a Vietnamese Pho soup place all the time and see people eating soup with chopsticks, but I need a spoon and fork. :)
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 Posted By: alice.b.toklas 
Jun 24  # 4 of 27
I've never heard of this. Is this a superstition or a formal eating rule? Like most of the time forks are served on the left in the US, but I don't know how many people would care if they were served on the right in non formal occasions.
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 Posted By: ainjel 
Jun 26  # 5 of 27
I think it's superstition that has become a formal eating rule.

We have soooo many chopsticks in the house. When we go out somewhere our four year old always wants to use them, too. She's actually getting pretty good at it. Our nearby Asian grocery store even had cute "kid-sized" ones so we couldn't resist and bought a few pairs of those.