Talk:Fork

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According to etiquette, during the meal the fork is held in the left hand, and the knife in the right.

I'm pretty sure this is the case in either Europe or North America, but not both. Could a helpful etiquette expert please clarify this? - Montréalais 08:53, 16 Sep 2003 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] Upper Classes

What is meant by "upper classes" in 1600? The aristocracy? If so, why not say so? HistoryBA 01:30, 22 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Sporks are better?

I noticed a little spork praise at the end of the first paragraph. Is that vandalism?

[edit] Vandalism

I'm clearing up the vandalism that's been put on here, some stuff like "the spoon is enveloped in your mum" and "I LIKE COLD MEAT". I have no intentions of vandalizing wikipedia.82.35.196.165 (talk) 22:44, 17 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] "Often refered to as"?

Come on. When was the last time you called a fork the "king of utensils"?

"Excuse me, dear, you gave me two forks by mistake. I don't have a king of utensils."

"Now, son, don't eat your peas with the king of utensils"

King, n. 1. the male ruler of a monarchy; 2. (playing cards) the highest ranking face card; 3. (cutlery) the fork.


Vandalism or not I was blown away by the phrase. I'm going to begin incorporating it into my every day language. Maybe prepare a little speech on the king of utensils for a lull in conversation. --130.126.67.39 03:07, 19 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Fork... why fork??

why call a fork a fork?? seriously, who came up with the name and why?

I think that we call it a fork because . . . that's what it is!
I found the following:
— [ Old English forca, via Germanic < Latin furca "pitchfork"] (MSN Encarta)
— ORIGIN Latin furca ‘pitchfork, forked stick’. AskOxford)
— O.E. forca "forked instrument used by torturers," from L. furca "pitchfork," of uncertain origin. Online Etymology Dictionary
I don't know if it is possible to find the origin of the latin word. — MFH:Talk 14:00, 13 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Serbian History

I paste here the modified version of User:66.222.220.176 before reverting.

One belief is that the fork was introduced in the Middle East, in the region of southern Turkey before the year 1000. Another prominent theory is that the utensil was first developed in the Balkans by the ancestors of modern day Serbs.

Maybe this is not vandalism, but the reference seems quite poor to me (not scientific at all in fact) and the sources indicate the "middle east before 1000" thesis: see e.g. the google search for fork+introduced+history

If you want to insist, please give a rough estimate of when the serbs invented the fork. — MFH:Talk 12:45, 13 March 2006 (UTC)

PS: In fact, Turkey and present-day serbia are not so far from each other, and I can imagine that it's difficult to establish with 100% accuracy where the true origin was. Also, notice that my revert has no anti-serbian motivation, in fact I have many friends in Serbia. But unless better sources are given, the saying "we [serbs] invented the fork" (even if it is common in Serbia) seems not valid as proof of a historical fact. — MFH:Talk 12:54, 13 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Don't Merge into Fork

It was delightful to find different entries for all sorts of forks. 206.208.110.32

I think it rather silly to have separate entries that simply can't easily become more than two or three lines in length. It would be more rational - and less tough on users' mouse buttons - to list the descriptions in this article. I'll give it a few days (two or three) and if no one objects, merging it is. --R. Wolff 17:57, 20 August 2006 (UTC)
I agree and support merging.--Boson 20:03, 11 October 2006 (UTC)
Support. All the "different entries" will just be in this article after merging. Same thing. — Omegatron 21:38, 11 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Turtle Tribes

I have removed the following:

" and my have been invented by the Turtle Tribes of Early Korea"

because it looks like nonsense and I can no evidence of turtle tribes anywhere in Asia. If their existence and use of forks can be documented, by all means let it be reinstated. seglea 17:32, 1 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Opening sentence

"As a handwriting tool or pencil, a fork is a tool consisting of a handle with several narrow tines (usually two to four) on one end."

Sounds almost as if the fork was a handwriting tool. And anyway, since when do handwriting tools usually have two to four narrow tines on one end? Acdx 14:16, 11 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Runcible Spoon NOT Spork

A spork and a runcible spoon are not the same thing. They have similarities, yes, but the fact that the word 'runcible' was invented by a nonsense poet who didn't really know what it meant throws it into disregard slightly. Edited. BB 30/10/06

[edit] History Non Sequitur

The first sentence in the history section, "It is a commonly believed myth that the table fork was introduced to West during the Middle Ages, as the Romans used forks for serving.", makes no sense. It only gets worse as you read the section. Can somebody knowledgeable correct? 65.80.244.199 19:12, 2 December 2006 (UTC)


Two stories keep coming up in my reasearch for this. One is that the fork was trasferred to Italy by a byzantine princess when she married the Doge of Venice, Domenico Selvo. Or, it was trasferred by princess Theophanu (also of the Byzantine empire) when she married the soon to be Holy Roman Emperor Otto II.
--Ianboggs 16:15, 16 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Heretic's fork

How noble of you to remove heretic's fork from this article (eating forks), you regard as being tasteless. However, would it not have been a good idea also to link to that article through the disambiguation page? Anyway, have done so now (see fork (disambiguation) as well as some of the others, such as broadfork, spading fork, etc. Dieter Simon (talk) 22:52, 15 February 2008 (UTC)