Are You Aware of the Real Purpose of This Part of Your Disposable Chopsticks?

Are You Aware of the Real Purpose of This Part of Your Disposable Chopsticks?
Illustration - SNeG17/Shutterstock
Updated:

Takeaway enthusiasts will be familiar with disposable wooden chopsticks; many may even have cutlery drawers replete with the handy wooden utensils in their neat paper packets.

But what is that little wooden tab at the end of the chopsticks, keeping them together, really for?

Many diners make a habit of breaking chopsticks apart, destroying the tab in the process, before removing any unwanted splinters and tucking into their tasty meal. But what if this is wrong?

(Illustration - Alexander Sobol/Shutterstock)
Illustration - Alexander Sobol/Shutterstock

A theory has been circulating on social media: The wooden tab at the end of your disposable chopsticks is not there to keep the sticks together. Instead, its function is to act as a rest for your chopsticks when not in use!

Simply snap off the wooden tab at the indentation—conveniently separating your chopsticks and preventing pesky splinters in the process—eat your meal, and rest the sticks on the tab whenever you need a break.

Why is this a genius trick? It’s clean, it’s elegant, and it keeps chopsticks from rolling off the table or into your food.

(The Epoch Times)
The Epoch Times
Twitter user @bortofdarkness went viral after posting the hack on social media. In response to the since-deleted post, social media users flocked to the comments section to share awe, outrage, and skepticism in equal measure.
“This is the same feeling I got when I discovered the noodle boxes fold out into bowls,” wrote one Twitter user, as quoted by The Sun.

“I feel like such a philistine in this moment,” wrote another, while one user pointed out, “[It’s] just a clever hack possible on SOME sticks.”

(The Epoch Times)
The Epoch Times

The thread also sparked a discussion about disposable versus reusable chopsticks.

Did you know how you were “supposed” to use disposable chopsticks? Share the divisive hack, and discover how stick-savvy your nearest and dearest really are!

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