S/O: Do you put your elbows on the dinner table?

[JLTraveling]

I am permanently scarred from summer camp. It was a game to catch someone with their elbows on the table and then break out in a song that had you walk around the tables. I attended that camp for 1-3 weeks every summer for 28 years as a camper then staff member, and was horrified at the idea of getting caught. So…..it’s ingrained in me now. Elbows off the table!

Same!! I still remember the lyrics:
Get your elbows off the table, (camper name).
Get your elbows off the table, (camper name).
We have seen you once or twice and it isn't very nice!
Get your elbows off the table, (camper name).

As a very shy kid, I was terrified of being called out like that. And I guess I'm still scarred today lol

 

[NannyBeBe]

Never.

 

[LoveSpringsteen]

Never when I’m eating. We weren’t allowed to put our elbows on the table as kids and it’s a hard habit for me to break. Now, if we’re playing a board game or working on a puzzle, then it’s free reign for the elbows

 

[Christine]

This was my stepdad's really strict rule too and I almost hated him for it. I think I rebelled though and I still do it (at home at least). He was not going to break me!!! Otherwise, he is a fine person.

 

[amcnj]

I don’t remember this ever being a rule at any time when I was growing up. But for some reason I did and still do feel self-conscious about it when at someone else’s house or a restaurant. So I picked that up somewhere.

 

[Dan Murphy]

No, I do not eat with elbows on the table.

 

[Silver saucer]

Nope, it was ingrained in me from childhood. Elbows on the table were not tolerated!! LOL

 

[mrodgers]

Home, I think I do. Sometimes. Not all the time. Now the table is about 10 feet away from where I now sit and eat on the couch, so.....

Formal, at a restaurant, visiting someone else's home for dinner, or having others over for dinner, I am always aware of not putting my elbows on the table.

I tend to eat horribly fast, so in a formal setting, I tend to purposely take a bite of food and put the fork/spoon down to chew that bite to slow down my eating. Napkin goes on my left leg and that arm is under the table usually to hold the napkin and I set my fork down and usually have my right arm under the table on my leg as well. I have no idea what proper etiquette is, but that is mine.

 

[Jennasis]

Yes. I don't understand that silly "rule".

 

[disneychrista]

I do. This is one of the rules I don't understand. Apparently it came from preventing aggression??

 

[prairie_girl]

Definitely not.

If someone was caught with their elbows on the table, we used to say ables on the table to remind them to get them down.

 

[Mysterian]

I would like to amend to my last post. We had these elbows on the table many a night:

 

[ashley0139]

No elbows on the table. Also no hats at the table and no phones at the table. Those were the rules ingrained in me as a kid.

 

[SirDuff]

The rule about elbows on tables was established in the 16th century when farm workers would come in for the evening after having cleaned livestock stalls with their elbows. Nobody wanted those nasty elbows on the table. If they didn't have the opportunity to wash prior to dinner, at least they didn't have their nasty elbows right up there in your face while you were trying to eat. They couldn't do much about the smell though.

I don’t understand. Their hands were clean enough to eat (and be “right up there in your face” but their elbows were too dirty? So, they managed to clean the stalls using only their elbows? I have so many questions (clearly).

 

[mousefan73]

I honeslty never thought if it,, was never a thing we even talked about.. But I grew up in a European household. Maybe it's an American thing.. We eat using both forks and knives so I dont physically see how eating with elbow on the table is even possible when using the hands and utilsils? I mean if for a long dinner and you are holding a glass of wine and having a conversation. sure you might prop your elbow on the table.. I guess. Or if just sitting there maybe the elbow rests... I honeslty dont get it.. Do you guys sit there all stiff with back straight as this seems to be the only way to keep elbows away.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

I honeslty never thought if it,, was never a thing we even talked about.. But I grew up in a European household. Maybe it's an American thing.. We eat using both forks and knives so I dont physically see how eating with elbow on the table is even possible when using the hands and utilsils? I mean if for a long dinner and you are holding a glass of wine and having a conversation. sure you might prop your elbow on the table.. I guess. Or if just sitting there maybe the elbow rests... I honeslty dont get it.. Do you guys sit there all stiff with back straight as this seems to be the only way to keep elbows away.

I just learned to sit with my forearms resting on the edge of the table. It was so ingrained in me that it just comes naturally now.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I haven't really paid attention, but I probably do.

 

[slo]

I voted - other

If I’m at home I do sometimes - it’s just us - no one to impress

If I’m with guests or especially at a nice restaurant - never.

The same goes for putting your napkin on your lap. There are some dining rules that are just not necessary in the comfort of your own home, but you need to know about them so you can have good manners with others or in public - IMO.

 

[mrodgers]

No elbows on the table. Also no hats at the table and no phones at the table. Those were the rules ingrained in me as a kid.

The no phones would be a weird one when I was a kid. Like why would I stretch the cord from the wall all the way over to the table while we ate?

 

[mrodgers]

I honeslty never thought if it,, was never a thing we even talked about.. But I grew up in a European household. Maybe it's an American thing.. We eat using both forks and knives so I dont physically see how eating with elbow on the table is even possible when using the hands and utilsils? I mean if for a long dinner and you are holding a glass of wine and having a conversation. sure you might prop your elbow on the table.. I guess. Or if just sitting there maybe the elbow rests... I honeslty dont get it.. Do you guys sit there all stiff with back straight as this seems to be the only way to keep elbows away.

That's one thing I picked up as interesting watching Gordon Ramsey shows, especially the early ones over in the UK and other restaurant/food travel shows form over there, over across the pond everyone seems to use a knife to move food onto the fork. You also hold your forks different than we do. I think stabbing with the fork and held opposite direction than you do is common over here.

Also I think it's common to cut up your food, then eat it here vs. cutting a piece at a time. I typically cut a piece at a time when eating and enjoying a good steak, but cut up my meats all at once if it's run of the mill chicken or porkchop and I'm just eating to eat, especially at home on the couch by myself watching a video on TV.