WVDreamer

I may get in trouble for saying this but has anyone else noticed how noisy Americans are when they eat?

I'm not some super polite snob but the other day it REALLY got to me when I was at dinner with two Americans and both of them were chewing their food so loudly that I had to excuse myself for a few minutes just so I wouldn't say something.

I am not sure if it's the culture but I have noticed many times since I moved to the USA. People seem to chew really fast with their mouth open and make a hell of a noise.

Anyway rant mode off

Gabgoeshome

I've never seen it

Sorry you have though

IloveAlaska

Oh yeah! I was sitting an exam just before Christmas, when I guy on the next table unwrapped his footlong Subway sandwich, and proceeded to chomp away on it for what seemed like an eternity! He was making so much noise I kept having to re-read my test questions over and over again. I swear I had to grit my teeth, so I didn't lose it by getting up and ramming it down his throat, just to speed things up a little !!! :0

Bluegrass Lass

I've heard it all now.

Lord_GG_Byron

The ones who chew loudly are the people who weren't taught right by their momma's! :P

I, on the other hand, went through cotillion, I know how to use a shrimp fork, oh yeah!

ukecadet

We get a show over here called"man vs food"Some of it looks great "I've never seen crab so big!" though a tad obscene with the amount. Apart from the huge platter the fat guy consumes the plates of food that the punters are eating look massive to me.Are the portions bigger in the US?

Lord_GG_Byron

Depends on where you are. In the south we love to eat. So the portions are bigger. Up north you get the health nuts that get full after eating two peanuts.

ukecadet

probably a bad move for me then.

scrubbedexpat097

Clean up needed in aisle #7.....another catastrophic generalization occurred "!!!!

WVDreamer

LOL I know it's a generalization, but honestly from my own personal experience it has been true. Your lucky I didnt mention the fact that the majority of people I meet seem to hold their cutlery in one hand and use it like a shovel

HarryTheSpider

I was at a work-related dinner back last year, at a nice little restaurant somewhere in Santa Clara. The guy opposite me asked me if everybody in the UK was actually taught to 'eat properly, with cutlery'.

It was only then, that I became aware that almost every other person around the table was eating mainly with a fork, using it like a shovel.

I replied that I wasn't sure, but most of the people I have seen eating back home tended to use both the knife and the fork, but that couldn't be representative as I'm basically middle class and remember as a kid being constantly 'coached' (!) on eating 'properly' - cutlery AND chewing quietly with mouth closed.

I'm not sure if this is only a middle/upper class thing or not... just sharing my own direct experience.

I don't have a problem with people using a fork like a shovel. I've rarely come across people here eating noisily and/or like a pig, BUT... there are plenty who chew gum open-mouthed and noisily... usually after lunch.

Octang Frye

The thing that bugs me is the gum-smacker. Sorry, ladies, but it's usually women. Chewing and smacking their gum with an open mouth. I see it most at my son's school when I pick him up. Come on, you're not 12. It's uncouth and unseemly.

Lord_GG_Byron

Oh that's the worst. When I hear gum smacking it makes my skin crawl.

tonrob

Is this a regional thing? I've lived in New England for close to 7 years and this thread's a new one on me - and I know I've never encountered this as it would annoy the hell out of me if it did. Come to think of it, I've traveled to 42 states over a period of years and I've still never encountered this phenomenon (or, certainly, not sufficiently for me to think this was an American trait).

The problem with sweeping generalizations, especially with a country so large and diverse as America, is that they can rarely be true. Come to think of it, even with a small country like the UK you shouldn't jump to conclusions such as, shall we say, "British people can't use correct punctuation and grammar in internet forums" - because in reality it just applies to a small subset of the whole.

robin1234

I'm curious about this gum smacking phenomenon.. Is this folks who forgot to put their teeth back in, left them in the beaker on the night table? Not sure if I've ever heard that one. In my experience the noisy ones are cracking open the squirrel heads to get at the yummy brains.