British traditionalists have long been offended by the table manners of our American cousins — not least the decision to order the words “fork and knife”.
Now, according to a survey, American dining habits are spreading to these shores as one in three young Britons eats with their fork in their right hand — an unpardonable offence for etiquette experts.
A total of 77 per cent of adults in the UK adhere to tradition, using their knife in the right hand and fork in the left throughout a meal in what is known as the European style.
Among younger Britons, however, the tradition appears to be waning, with a third of those under 30 choosing either to use their silverware the other way around or — in an approach known as the American style — to switch the fork to their right hand when not using their knife.
This is also known as the cut and switch method. You begin with the knife in the right hand and fork in the left to cut food, but then put the knife down and switch the fork from left to right when eating.
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The American style also requires the tines of the fork to be pointed upwards, rather than down, while eating — again in contrast with British traditions.
Up to 20 per cent of Britons under the age of 30 have adopted this American style of cut and switch, compared with 6 per cent across all age groups, according to the survey of 1,000 adults by the search engine Ask Jeeves.
Older Britons have upheld tradition, with 89 per cent of the over 60s sticking to the European style.
The figures showed that the traditional method is dying out fastest in Wales, where just 46 per cent use it, and strongest in the southwest, where 94 per cent stick to the European style.
Seventeen per cent of Britons, rising to 23 per cent of those aged 30-44, eat with their knife in their left hand and their fork in their right hand throughout the meal.
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More than one in four Scots have their knife and fork the “wrong” way round throughout their meal.