Sunday, January 25, 2015

Chopstitiquette

Chopstick etiquette from Japan, dos and do nots, how to use chopsticks

Check it out, someone translated this comic into Chinese!

14 comments:

  1. Do not... use your chopsticks to push a dish closer to you so that you can reach the food inside it better.

    Do... be aware of the sayings about the meaning of where along the length of chopsticks you choose to hold them.

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    1. What's the meaning of where you hold the chopsticks? That's new to me

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    2. It’s been a long time since I was told about this but I think the superstition was that if you hold them close to the ends that touch the food, you will marry someone close to home, while if you hold them close to the other ends, you will marry someone from far away.

      This was from a Japanese friend, so may be limited to Japan or possibly even some part of it.

      So, not a social faux pas on holding them here or there, just a story/superstition/tradition that one could perhaps be aware of in case it’s ever commented on humorously.

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    3. Good to know! What if you hold one close to the tip and the other far to the end? HUH??

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    4. That clearly means divorce mate... XD

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    5. So, I think the sayings depend on where one is from. When I was in China I heard that some people say that closer chopsticks mean you'll be closer to your lover (I assumed romatically, not actual physical location, though the saying mentioned above implies physically). I also heard that in other areas they say that the further you hold the chopsticks away, the more intelligent you are.

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    6. So you're either smart or in love. How sad...

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    7. In Malaysia, if you hold the chopsticks closer to the tip it means you will not be going far away from home when you grow up; if you hold the chopsticks far to the end it means you will be going very far away from home. And Malachi, please show me how you hold one close to the tip and the other far to the end, and show me how you use them, haha.

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  2. I've also read that you are not supposed to put the chopsticks in your mouth.

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  3. DO NOT ... move plates and bowls with your chopsticks.

    My wife has to remind me not to do that pretty regularly.

    DO NOT ... pass food from chopsticks to chopsticks.

    If you want to give someone food from your plate, just put it on their plate.

    DO ... pass the bones of a recently cremated relative from chopsticks to chopsticks.

    I've done this. It's as creepy as it sounds.

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    Replies
    1. Man...good thing they don't pass the bones at the dinner table, or things could get confusing very quickly.

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  4. Oh, and another one.

    DO NOT ... put your ricebowl on your right.

    DO ... put your ricebowl on your left.

    Unless there's a dead person involved in which case, yet again, it's the opposite.

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