Is it bad manners to drink soup straight out of the bowl?

Me and my mom were arguing about it a couple of days ago. My mom was trying to tell me that drinking your soup out of the bowl instead of scooping it up with a spoon was bad manners, I disagreed because drinking out of the bowl isn't offensive like chewing with your mouth open and it's a lot more practical than trying to scoop up the soup a little bit at a time with a spoon.

Oh and I should probably clarify things a bit, I'm talking about soup that doesn't have anything in it like tomato soup or the left over broth.

The only thing one ought to drink out of in company is a glass. That said I agree with you on the score that it is more practical to drink some kinds of soup, so I normally order them in a cup.

I would imagine it'd depend on the company. Infront of family I would say no but in a restaurant I would say yes.

In western society it is always bad manners to drink soup directly from the bowl. Having said that, it is often permissible to be bad-mannered in the company of close friends and family.

Also even if you were with friends, family or strangers and you scooped it, making that wonderful noise XD, I'd ask you to drink it from the bowl :P
But strictly speaking it is bad manner, for all I care about etiquettes...

if you're east asian (Chinese, Japanese, Korean), that was permitted

It depend's on where you are, really.

practicality does not equal good manners.

if they did equal i would never use a fork or knife....... i try not to whenever i can anyway.

Well it looks my mom was right XP

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Originally Posted by Cute Wolf

if you're east asian (Chinese, Japanese, Korean), that was permitted

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That's kind of ironic, considering Japan is more strict than the US when it comes to etiquette.

And now I'm starting to wonder, why is it bad manners to drink your soup out of your bowl?

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Originally Posted by Chuchip

That's kind of ironic, considering Japan is more strict than the US when it comes to etiquette.

And now I'm starting to wonder, why is it bad manners to drink your soup out of your bowl?

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actually, to finish your food from bowl (especially rice and soup), at least in Chinese tradition (well), you are supposed to hold your mouth close to the bowl and drag the content with chopsticks

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Originally Posted by stratigos vasilios

I would imagine it'd depend on the company. Infront of family I would say no but in a restaurant I would say yes.

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Does your family deserve less of your manners and respect than strangers?

I did this once at the dinner table as a child and was sent to bed hungry. My father explained the next day that I could've tilted my bowl slightly to pool the liquid on the near side to make it a little easier to scoop up with a spoon and I got it. If you're asking whether this is bad manners I just don't think there is any question, but I guess I tested the boundaries once but I was maybe 7. Maybe you meant 'is it a big deal?'

If I was queen of America physical education class would be replaced with Emily Post reading time. Harumph!

No, it isn't bad manners. Some people think it is. They also disapprove of holding meat in your hands and ripping bits of it off with your teeth, I imagine :toff:

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Originally Posted by Cute Wolf

actually, to finish your food from bowl (especially rice and soup), at least in Chinese tradition (well), you are supposed to hold your mouth close to the bowl and drag the content with chopsticks

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It's quite impossible to get the last mouthful any other way, except with fingers!

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Originally Posted by Louis VI the Fat

Does your family deserve less of your manners and respect than strangers?

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Considering my brother has been known to eat and watch tv in his underwear, yes. My answer is yes.

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Originally Posted by Cute Wolf

if you're east asian (Chinese, Japanese, Korean), that was permitted

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Not in Korea I believe.
IIRC its bad manners to drink straight from the bowl in Korea.

In Japan they say scooping from the bowl tends to make you lean forward. And that looks like dog eating out of their dish thus ugly.
Personally I just do what everyone does in that culture.

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Originally Posted by Sasaki Kojiro

No, it isn't bad manners. Some people think it is. They also disapprove of holding meat in your hands and ripping bits of it off with your teeth, I imagine :toff:

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Ah, but one is allowed to hold the meat in one's hands and rip off bits with one's teeth when the animal you're eating is still breathing. http://matousmileys.free.fr/miam3.gif

You know this thread makes me feel dirty and unrefined now, because I seriously had no idea it was bad until my mom told me and I made this thread :embarassed:

I only consume soup at my parents' house, so I've never considered the question. Personally, I'd think that as long as you don't make loud slurping sounds, drinking from the bowl isn't going to disgust or offend anyone. If it does, maybe they ought to just relax.

Drinking directly from the bowl is bad manners. That's why I scoop out the solid stuff with my spoon, then sip the liquid throw a straw. :smug:

Slurping is bad manners, drinking directly out of the bowl is just being efficient.

Use the spoon

Use a spoon heathen.

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The chili stains on my wife beater should tell you what I think of this poll

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:inquisitive:





For the most part no, unless it's a business meeting or a date or something. :chef:

The solution is easy, use a mug, then you can drink it.

Out the bowl is simply improper and silly, especially as it ends up over you 9 times out of 10.

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Originally Posted by Chuchip

this thread makes me feel dirty and unrefined now

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This is the whole point of etiquette! Exclusion and social branding. Tell your mother you won't be won't be oppressed by her petit bourgeois concerns and that you'll drink from the bowl and collectively own the means of production as much as you like!

As long as you don't slurp you can eat it how ever you want.

it's not a bad habbit or manners to drink soup, cuz liquid is always drink not eat....And me crazy for chicken soup...!

Use a straw.

Soup can be served in a bowl or in a mug.

When it is in a bowl you eat it with a spoon and when it is in a mug you drink it directly.

It would be deemed bad manners to use a spoon with a mug.

Proper etiquette varies from country to country or even by region though.

In England everything is eaten from the back of the fork but this is not necessarily so in the rest of the UK.

If you have ever tried to balance peas on the back of a fork you understand why some people resorted to eating them on a knife.

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Originally Posted by Fisherking

If you have ever tried to balance peas on the back of a fork you understand why some people resorted to eating them on a knife.

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Or you stab the peas with the fork, then they don't fall off at all.

I always just pick the peas up with my hand.

Using your knife to crush the peas onto the back of the fork is the correct practice.

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Originally Posted by phonicsmonkey

Using your knife to crush the peas onto the back of the fork is the correct practice.

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Oooooohhh, that's how it's done?

I always build a tower as high as I can and try to catch as many peas when my tower inevitably collapses.
No wonder people stare at me in restaurants.

The broth is the best part of the soup. Sip away. Anyone who tells you you have bad manners is uncivilized for criticizing you eating habits in the first place.

Mr. Campbells says that soup is good food afterall.

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Originally Posted by JuJuBee

The broth is the best part of the soup. Sip away.

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But be careful of some Asian soups. I once had a disturbing experience with a delicious tom yum in thailand where I slurped away at the bowl only to discover I had simply taken the layer of floating chilli oil off the top. That was a wild night I can tell you.

I pride myself on the fact that I can eat soup with two fingers without spilling a drop. :france:

growing up in Kuwait, everyone did it (mom aside), so I assume not. (then again, you're talking about people who think it is good manners to burp after dinner-something also have no trouble with :shrug:

it depends on the culture I guess.