You’ve been eating chips all wrong! Etiquette expert William Hanson reveals what you should NEVER do when enjoying them

Not again.

This time, unfortunately, it’s chips that you’ve been eating all wrong, as revealed by etiquette expert William Hanson.

In a TikTok video that’s been viewed 2.5million times, this connoisseur of comportment points out that when chips are served in a small basket, it is not correct etiquette, naughty readers, to pick them out individually by hand and eat them. 

Instead, ‘more correct’, is to ‘decant a few onto the side of your plate and then eat’.

And one must use a fork in polite society, though hands are acceptable in certain circumstances.

William told MailOnline Travel: ‘In informal, relaxed dining, you can get away with using your hands to eat chips – both for decanting and eating.

‘Beware of greasy fingers, however. A napkin of some sort is most definitely needed.’

Should one use a knife to cut chips?

‘Yes, use a knife to cut chips,’ said William, ‘especially if larger or chunkier. You don’t want a big fat one hanging out your mouth as you try and swallow.’

Is it ok to eat multiple chips in one go?

William said: ‘If you’re a glutton for punishment, this would be more or less okay. But probably less is more. ‘

Chips, says William, should be decanted onto the side of your plate. And one should use a fork, unless dining in relaxed environs

William’s new book, Just Good Manners (Penguin Random House), is out on September 12

And what are the rules around sauces?

William said: ‘You can dip into a little pot of sauce if you are dining alone, or no one else is having that sauce, but for communal sources, decant a small portion on to the side of your plate and dip in your own little pool of sauce.

‘Squirting sauce over chips is only ever done at the seaside.’

What’s William’s favourite food to go with chips?

He added: ‘Steak – medium rare – is always nice, with apologies to the vegans and vegetarians. I can’t stand fish, however, so I am afraid the purported British delicacy of fish and chips remains an anathema to me.’

For more from Mr Hanson visit his TikTok and Instagram profiles. His new book, Just Good Manners (Penguin Random House), is out on September 12. It is billed as ‘a witty and authoritative guide to British etiquette’, with William sharing ‘his definitive guidance on how to charm and delight those around you in every situation with idiosyncratic authority’.