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Originally Posted by josh stout
Unfortunately the story is apocryphal, but it does seem plausible. As a counter argument, my Chinese Indonesian friends do not think a knife as a gift is good luck. They would be uncomfortable with any sort of sword as a wedding present.  |
Knives have traditionally not been considered appropriate presents in most Western cultures, either. This is something that I of course heartily disagree with!
However, the superstition is tempered by the fact that you CAN give something sharp as a present, it's just that the recipient should hand you a penny or something to make it look like a sale, so the friendship or family tie wouldn't be "cut".
Note that most non-nomadic Eastern cultures did not use knives at the dining-table, at least until the introduction of European customs.
And interestingly enough, the ancient Romans had an aversion not only to dining with knives, but to
wearing ANY metal objects like rings or bracelets during meals. Meals were served in bite-sized pieces, diners used fingers and long handled spoons with pointed butt ends (to poke out things like snails or marrow, but not the eyes of fellow diners of course). The Romans of course loved to bring whole roast fowls or boars on platters into the dining-hall, but servants and slaves would cut them into bite size on serving-tables before passing platters around to the guests. Come to think of, the classical dining posture for upper-class Roman citizens was semi-reclining on a couch or
triclinium; having to cut food on a plate would be extremely inconvenient since the dish was not resting on a table, but rather on the couch or in the diner's hand and he was generally supporting his upper body on one elbow. But even for commoners, who typically sat on benches or stools, a spoon was usually the only eating implement in use.