Napkin

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napkin , serviette or napkin face is a rectangle of cloth used on the table to wipe your mouth and fingers while eating. Usually small and folded, sometimes in complex designs and shapes. The word comes from Central English, borrows French nappe - the closing cloth for the table - and adds -kin , a small suffix.

Video Napkin

Terminology

"Serviette" can be heard in the UK, Ireland, parts of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Kenya and South Africa. In Australia and New Zealand, "serviette" generally refers to a variety of papers and "napkins" refers to various fabrics. The same difference is used in Canada even though the "paper napkin" can be used interchangeably with "serviette".

In the United Kingdom, the term "napkin" is traditionally "U" (upper class) and "serviette" is "non-U".

Maps Napkin

Description and history

Conventionally, napkins are often folded and placed to the left of a place setting, outside the outer fork. In a restaurant setting or catering room, it can be folded into more elaborate shapes and displayed on empty plates. The origami technique can be used to create three dimensional designs. Napkins can also be put together in a bundle with cutlery with napkin rings. Alternatively, a paper napkin may contain a napkin holder.

Napkins were used in ancient Roman times. One of the earliest references to table napkins in English was the year 1384-85.

A summary of the history of napkins often says that the ancient Greeks used bread to wipe their hands. This is suggested by a passage in one of the letters Alciphron (3:44), and some comments by the sausage vendor in the drama Aristophanes, The Knights . The bread in both texts is referred to as apomagdalia , which means bread from the crust known as crumb , and not a special "napkin". The use of paper napkins is documented in ancient China, where papers were discovered in the 2nd century BC. Paper papers are known as chih pha , folded in boxes, and used to serve tea. Textual evidence of paper napkin appears in the description of the family holdings of Yu, from the city of Hangzhou.

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See also

• Paper Napkin
• sanitary napkins
• Wet wipe

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References

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External links

• Napkin Folding Tutorials, a collection of step by step video tutorials on how to fold napkins
• Serviettes and How to Fold Them, a guide for napkin folding from 1890.

Source of the article : Wikipedia