Except etiquette extends beyond just “common social etiquette”. Using a knife and fork the “correct way” is etiquette. Eating soup by scooping the spoon away from oneself is etiquette. Placing your cutlery the correct way on the dish when you’re finished is etiquette and varies wildly by country. These are just examples of dining etiquette, there’s much more. Its all bullshit and I agree it should boil down to being respectful and mindful, but depending who raised you it may happen that you get reprimanded and punished for not following very arbitrary rules.
Except etiquette extends beyond just “common social etiquette”. Using a knife and fork the “correct way” is etiquette. Eating soup by scooping the spoon away from oneself is etiquette. Placing your cutlery the correct way on the dish when you’re finished is etiquette and varies wildly by country. These are just examples of dining etiquette, there’s much more. Its all bullshit and I agree it should boil down to being respectful and mindful, but depending who raised you it may happen that you get reprimanded and punished for not following very arbitrary rules.
Wait, theres a wrong way to scoop soup?! It seems I’ve been screwing up soup for a long time…
Yah, you scoop away. No slurping. No passing out in the bowl.
Pfft, I’m not not passing out in my soup
I have the most wonderful naps face down in soup
You can scoop however you want, but if you slurp I’m absolutely asking you to stop.
Agree. English isn’t my first language and I did not know it also meant dining etiquette.