When finished, fork tines up or down?

Dear Polite One,

Do I place my cutlery together with the tines on the fork facing up or down?

Confused

Dear Confused,

If using the American Method (zig-zag, switching hands to take your bite) of eating, the old rule was to place your utensils parallel to each other, fork tines up, with the handles of the utensils pointing four to ten o'clock when finished with the meal. The handles of the utensils hang over the plate slightly to assist the person cleaning the table.

If using the Continental Method, it would be the same, but with the tines down. However, I, along with numerous etiquette experts, concur that it really doesn’t matter if the tines are up or down as long as the rest of the placement is correct.

Sincerely,

The Polite One

More by The Polite One

How to Use the Continental method?

How to Eat Hard to Fork Foods

Using the Fork in One Hand?

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