• OT: Table manners

    From Lawrence D'Oliveiro@Ido@nz.invalid to alt.usage.english,alt.food.fast-food on Thu Jan 1 17:42:41 2026
    From Newsgroup: alt.food.fast-food

    I very recently posed this question on rec.food.cooking, and although I
    did receive a few responses, none answered my question directly. Last
    week I was having lunch with two of my lady friends from my cats group.
    After a hearty meal of chili beans and rice, my friend Jill let out a
    fart for the ages. It was loud and it stunk. After a moment of tense
    silence, I asked her was she going to at least say "excuse me". My other friend, Carol, chimed in that farting after a nice meal was perfectly acceptable and was meant as a compliment to the chef. She said it was an eastern European custom, which I have to admit I had never heard before.
    Jill said that although she wasn't from eastern Europe, it was a custom
    that she adopted. She then proceeded to cut another one, which was even
    louder than the first. While I had a look of disgust on my face, Carol
    had this big grin on her face as she let loose with a silent but deadly.
    I nearly puked from the smell. Getting back to my original question: Is
    it impolite to fart at the dinner table?
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Jar Din Air@jdr@chi.meh to alt.usage.english,alt.food.fast-food,rec.food.cooking on Thu Jan 1 15:44:39 2026
    From Newsgroup: alt.food.fast-food

    On Thu, 1 Jan 2026 17:42:41 -0500
    Lawrence D'Oliveiro <Ido@nz.invalid> wrote:

    I very recently posed this question on rec.food.cooking, and although
    I did receive a few responses, none answered my question directly.
    Last week I was having lunch with two of my lady friends from my cats
    group. After a hearty meal of chili beans and rice, my friend Jill
    let out a fart for the ages. It was loud and it stunk. After a moment
    of tense silence, I asked her was she going to at least say "excuse
    me". My other friend, Carol, chimed in that farting after a nice meal
    was perfectly acceptable and was meant as a compliment to the chef.
    She said it was an eastern European custom, which I have to admit I
    had never heard before. Jill said that although she wasn't from
    eastern Europe, it was a custom that she adopted. She then proceeded
    to cut another one, which was even louder than the first. While I had
    a look of disgust on my face, Carol had this big grin on her face as
    she let loose with a silent but deadly. I nearly puked from the
    smell. Getting back to my original question: Is it impolite to fart
    at the dinner table?

    Was there no elevator shaft nearby?

    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Steve Hayes@hayesstw@telkomsa.net to alt.usage.english,alt.food.fast-food on Fri Jan 2 07:30:10 2026
    From Newsgroup: alt.food.fast-food

    On Thu, 1 Jan 2026 17:42:41 -0500, Lawrence D'Oliveiro
    <Ido@nz.invalid> wrote:

    I nearly puked from the smell. Getting back to my original question: Is
    it impolite to fart at the dinner table?

    I think that;s one of those questions where you'd need to state where
    you're from.

    On a related topic, my mother-in-law used to refer to silent farts as
    "cushion creepers".
    --
    Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
    Web: http://www.khanya.org.za/stevesig.htm
    Blog: http://khanya.wordpress.com
    E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Hibou@vpaereru-unmonitored@yahoo.com.invalid to alt.usage.english,alt.food.fast-food on Fri Jan 2 06:02:20 2026
    From Newsgroup: alt.food.fast-food

    Le 01/01/2026 |a 22:42, Lawrence D'Oliveiro a |-crit :

    I very recently posed this question on rec.food.cooking, and although I
    did receive a few responses, none answered my question directly. Last
    week I was having lunch with two of my lady friends from my cats group.
    After a hearty meal of chili beans and rice, my friend Jill let out a
    fart for the ages. It was loud and it stunk. After a moment of tense
    silence, I asked her was she going to at least say "excuse me". My other friend, Carol, chimed in that farting after a nice meal was perfectly acceptable and was meant as a compliment to the chef. She said it was an eastern European custom, which I have to admit I had never heard before.
    Jill said that although she wasn't from eastern Europe, it was a custom
    that she adopted. She then proceeded to cut another one, which was even louder than the first. While I had a look of disgust on my face, Carol
    had this big grin on her face as she let loose with a silent but deadly.
    I nearly puked from the smell. Getting back to my original question: Is
    it impolite to fart at the dinner table?


    I think the usual thing in polite circles is not to apologise, but to
    look accusingly at someone else. This works only if there are more than
    two of you at table, and is less reliable with the kind of rip-snorter
    you describe. Smells drift; sound is directional.

    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Bertel Lund Hansen@rundtosset@lundhansen.dk to alt.usage.english,alt.food.fast-food on Fri Jan 2 09:16:41 2026
    From Newsgroup: alt.food.fast-food

    Den 01.01.2026 kl. 23.42 skrev Lawrence D'Oliveiro:

    I nearly puked from the smell. Getting back to my original question: Is
    it impolite to fart at the dinner table?

    I have never heard that it should be acceptable to fart at the table
    anywhere, but I have heard that in some countries it's polite to burp as
    a sign of appreciation.
    --
    Bertel, Kolt, Danmark

    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Charles Hope@clh@candehope.me.uk to alt.usage.english,alt.food.fast-food on Fri Jan 2 11:45:03 2026
    From Newsgroup: alt.food.fast-food

    On 02/01/2026 06:02, Hibou wrote:
    Le 01/01/2026 |a 22:42, Lawrence D'Oliveiro a |-crit :

    I very recently posed this question on rec.food.cooking, and although I
    did receive a few responses, none answered my question directly. Last
    week I was having lunch with two of my lady friends from my cats group.
    After a hearty meal of chili beans and rice, my friend Jill let out a
    fart for the ages. It was loud and it stunk. After a moment of tense
    silence, I asked her was she going to at least say "excuse me". My other
    friend, Carol, chimed in that farting after a nice meal was perfectly
    acceptable and was meant as a compliment to the chef. She said it was an
    eastern European custom, which I have to admit I had never heard before.
    Jill said that although she wasn't from eastern Europe, it was a custom
    that she adopted. She then proceeded to cut another one, which was even
    louder than the first. While I had a look of disgust on my face, Carol
    had this big grin on her face as she let loose with a silent but deadly.
    I nearly puked from the smell. Getting back to my original question: Is
    it impolite to fart at the dinner table?


    I think the usual thing in polite circles is not to apologise, but to
    look accusingly at someone else. This works only if there are more than
    two of you at table, and is less reliable with the kind of rip-snorter
    you describe. Smells drift; sound is directional.

    even better is to blame the dog.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Bertel Lund Hansen@rundtosset@lundhansen.dk to alt.usage.english,alt.food.fast-food on Fri Jan 2 14:28:27 2026
    From Newsgroup: alt.food.fast-food

    Den 02.01.2026 kl. 12.45 skrev Charles Hope:

    I think the usual thing in polite circles is not to apologise, but to
    look accusingly at someone else. This works only if there are more
    than two of you at table, and is less reliable with the kind of
    rip-snorter you describe. Smells drift; sound is directional.

    even better is to blame the dog.

    A drawing from around 1850 illustrating the situation:

    https://temp.lundhansen.dk/
    --
    Bertel, Kolt, Danmark

    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From occam@occam@nowhere.nix to alt.usage.english,alt.food.fast-food on Fri Jan 2 16:38:31 2026
    From Newsgroup: alt.food.fast-food

    On 01/01/2026 23:42, Lawrence D'Oliveiro wrote:

    <questionable anecdote snipped>

    Is it impolite to fart at the dinner table?

    I've heard of burping after dinner in order to be polite in parts of the
    Middle East. Never about farting.

    But I guess with bean eating vegetarians anything goes.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Jeff Barnett@jbb@notatt.com to alt.usage.english,alt.food.fast-food on Fri Jan 2 12:00:35 2026
    From Newsgroup: alt.food.fast-food

    On 1/2/2026 8:38 AM, occam wrote:
    On 01/01/2026 23:42, Lawrence D'Oliveiro wrote:

    <questionable anecdote snipped>

    Is it impolite to fart at the dinner table?

    I've heard of burping after dinner in order to be polite in parts of the Middle East. Never about farting.

    But I guess with bean eating vegetarians anything goes.

    Many years ago I saw and browsed through a book on a friends coffee
    table that comprised some stories about Benjamin Franklin. He was a
    scientist, writer, philosopher, and a founding father of the USA. One of
    the snippets in the book was approximately as follows:

    Each year England's Royal Academy of Science (can't remember exactly
    what it's called) held a contest for best creative essays on a topic to advance science and knowledge. The year's topic was selected by a
    committee from ideas that were submitted by members. Ben was a member
    and submitted a doozie. He started by noting that the smell of farts was determined by what the producer had ate. Therefore, those smells could
    be controlled. He then speculated that with the right mixture of
    substances a variety of pleasant odors could be produced. These mixtures
    could (should?) be packaged in pill form and gentle people would carry
    them around on little pill boxes; particularly when out for a social experience. The participants would ingest interesting and novel pills,
    compare aromas, and rather enjoy what used to be an embarrassing event.
    Though this idea was submitted to the Academy and heartily endorsed by
    other members, it wasn't that year's essay theme.
    --
    Jeff Barnett

    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Peter Moylan@peter@pmoylan.org to alt.usage.english,alt.food.fast-food on Sat Jan 3 09:03:52 2026
    From Newsgroup: alt.food.fast-food

    On 03/01/26 00:28, Bertel Lund Hansen wrote:
    Den 02.01.2026 kl. 12.45 skrev Charles Hope:

    I think the usual thing in polite circles is not to apologise,
    but to look accusingly at someone else. This works only if there
    are more than two of you at table, and is less reliable with the
    kind of rip-snorter you describe. Smells drift; sound is
    directional.

    even better is to blame the dog.

    A drawing from around 1850 illustrating the situation:

    https://temp.lundhansen.dk/

    This story will make sense only to those who understand French.

    A man was at a formal dinner when he felt the pressure at his rear exit,
    so he went to another (empty) room and let it rip. As he was flapping
    the tails of his coat to get rid of the small, a waiter came in and saw
    him apparently doing a dance.

    "Ah, monsieur, quelle p|-tulance!" said the waiter.

    The man replied "Monsieur! Il ne faut pas me tutoyer."
    --
    Peter Moylan peter@pmoylan.org http://www.pmoylan.org
    Newcastle, NSW
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From micky@NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com to alt.usage.english,alt.food.fast-food on Fri Jan 2 17:45:54 2026
    From Newsgroup: alt.food.fast-food

    In alt.usage.english, on Thu, 1 Jan 2026 17:42:41 -0500, Lawrence
    D'Oliveiro <Ido@nz.invalid> wrote:

    I very recently posed this question on rec.food.cooking, and although I
    did receive a few responses, none answered my question directly. Last
    week I was having lunch with two of my lady friends from my cats group.
    After a hearty meal of chili beans and rice, my friend Jill let out a
    fart for the ages. It was loud and it stunk. After a moment of tense
    silence, I asked her was she going to at least say "excuse me".

    This was rude of you. You should have ignored what she did, as if she
    had not done it.

    My other
    friend, Carol, chimed in that farting after a nice meal was perfectly >acceptable and was meant as a compliment to the chef. She said it was an >eastern European custom

    I have doubts about that. I've been as far east as Prague, and even had
    a couple meals with real Czechs, and this never came up, in discussion
    or pratice. But that's not the rwason I have doubts.

    , which I have to admit I had never heard before.
    Jill said that although she wasn't from eastern Europe, it was a custom
    that she adopted. She then proceeded to cut another one, which was even >louder than the first. While I had a look of disgust on my face, Carol
    had this big grin on her face

    That was to teach you a lesson for being rude to her.

    as she let loose with a silent but deadly.
    I nearly puked from the smell. Getting back to my original question: Is
    it impolite to fart at the dinner table?

    Most people don't do this on purpose, so in that case, it's not rude.
    And I doubt she did it on purpose the first time either.
    --
    Please say where you live, or what
    area's English you are asking about.
    So your question or answer makes sense.
    . .
    I have lived all my life in the USA,
    Western Pa. Indianapolis, Chicago,
    Brooklyn, Baltimore.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Bryan Simmons@bryangsimmons@gmail.com to alt.usage.english,alt.food.fast-food on Fri Jan 2 16:53:52 2026
    From Newsgroup: alt.food.fast-food

    On 1/2/2026 5:45 AM, Charles Hope wrote:
    On 02/01/2026 06:02, Hibou wrote:
    Le 01/01/2026 |a 22:42, Lawrence D'Oliveiro a |-crit :

    I very recently posed this question on rec.food.cooking, and although I
    did receive a few responses, none answered my question directly. Last
    week I was having lunch with two of my lady friends from my cats group.
    After a hearty meal of chili beans and rice, my friend Jill let out a
    fart for the ages. It was loud and it stunk. After a moment of tense
    silence, I asked her was she going to at least say "excuse me". My other >>> friend, Carol, chimed in that farting after a nice meal was perfectly
    acceptable and was meant as a compliment to the chef. She said it was an >>> eastern European custom, which I have to admit I had never heard before. >>> Jill said that although she wasn't from eastern Europe, it was a custom
    that she adopted. She then proceeded to cut another one, which was even
    louder than the first. While I had a look of disgust on my face, Carol
    had this big grin on her face as she let loose with a silent but deadly. >>> I nearly puked from the smell. Getting back to my original question: Is
    it impolite to fart at the dinner table?


    I think the usual thing in polite circles is not to apologise, but to
    look accusingly at someone else. This works only if there are more
    than two of you at table, and is less reliable with the kind of rip-
    snorter you describe. Smells drift; sound is directional.

    even better is to blame the dog.

    One of the many reasons I'd never have a dog is that they stink.
    --
    --Bryan https://www.instagram.com/bryangsimmons/

    For your safety and protection, this sig. has been thoroughly
    tested on laboratory animals.

    "Most of the food described here is nauseating.
    We're just too courteous to say so."
    -- Cindy Hamilton
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Bertel Lund Hansen@rundtosset@lundhansen.dk to alt.usage.english,alt.food.fast-food on Sat Jan 3 08:30:56 2026
    From Newsgroup: alt.food.fast-food

    Den 02.01.2026 kl. 23.53 skrev Bryan Simmons:

    even better is to blame the dog.

    One of the many reasons I'd never have a dog is that they stink.

    WIWAL we had a dog. To the best of my memory it never smelled unpleasantly.
    --
    Bertel, Kolt, Danmark

    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Bertel Lund Hansen@rundtosset@lundhansen.dk to alt.usage.english,alt.food.fast-food on Sat Jan 3 08:43:02 2026
    From Newsgroup: alt.food.fast-food

    Den 02.01.2026 kl. 23.45 skrev micky:

    Most people don't do this on purpose, so in that case, it's not rude.
    And I doubt she did it on purpose the first time either.

    My experience is that you can always control a fart long enough to let
    it go away from others. A burp on the other hand can take you completely
    by surprise though it's usually controlable.
    --
    Bertel, Kolt, Danmark

    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Bryan Simmons@bryangsimmons@gmail.com to alt.usage.english,alt.food.fast-food on Sat Jan 3 04:16:57 2026
    From Newsgroup: alt.food.fast-food

    On 1/3/2026 1:30 AM, Bertel Lund Hansen wrote:
    Den 02.01.2026 kl. 23.53 skrev Bryan Simmons:

    even better is to blame the dog.

    One of the many reasons I'd never have a dog is that they stink.

    WIWAL we had a dog. To the best of my memory it never smelled unpleasantly.

    Some people like the smell of dogs. Same for horses. I find both repulsive.
    --
    --Bryan https://www.instagram.com/bryangsimmons/

    For your safety and protection, this sig. has been thoroughly
    tested on laboratory animals.

    "Most of the food described here is nauseating.
    We're just too courteous to say so."
    -- Cindy Hamilton
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Charles Hope@clh@candehope.me.uk to alt.usage.english,alt.food.fast-food on Sat Jan 3 11:45:15 2026
    From Newsgroup: alt.food.fast-food

    On 03/01/2026 07:43, Bertel Lund Hansen wrote:
    Den 02.01.2026 kl. 23.45 skrev micky:

    Most people don't do this on purpose, so in that case, it's not rude.
    And I doubt she did it on purpose the first time either.

    My experience is that you can always control a fart long enough to let
    it go away from others.
    I have damaged kidneys and take Sodium Bi-Carb in significant amounts. I cannot control my farts. They happen.

    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Hibou@vpaereru-unmonitored@yahoo.com.invalid to alt.usage.english,alt.food.fast-food on Sun Jan 4 08:57:36 2026
    From Newsgroup: alt.food.fast-food

    Le 02/01/2026 |a 22:03, Peter Moylan a |-crit :

    This story will make sense only to those who understand French.

    A man was at a formal dinner when he felt the pressure at his rear exit,
    so he went to another (empty) room and let it rip. As he was flapping
    the tails of his coat to get rid of the small, a waiter came in and saw
    him apparently doing a dance.

    "Ah, monsieur, quelle p|-tulance!" said the waiter.

    The man replied "Monsieur! Il ne faut pas me tutoyer."


    <Smile>

    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2