Native Brit here. Never come across the word flatware before. It appears to be a US term. Or maybe I'm just ignorant.
1. utensils, as knives, forks, and spoons, used at the table for serving and eating food. 2. dishes or containers for the table that are more or less flat, as plates and saucers (source: the internet)
Native Brit here. Never come across the word flatware before. It appears to be a US term. Or maybe I'm just ignorant.
I'm from the US, and while I'm sure I've heard it before, I never really noticed it until this last November when I was planning a dinner party for the first time. As I understand it Silverware, Flatware, and Plasticware are all categories of utensils.
In the U.S. I encounter it used by businesses that sell and rent knives, forks, etc., but I rarely hear it used outside the context of buying and renting. Ikea has a "flatware" category on their web site[1], for example, and our biggest local rental company[2] does as well, but I've never heard anybody at a restaurant or a house party ask where to find the flatware. In those contexts we use the word "utensils".
plates, dishes, saucers in a sense "shallow; smooth-surfaced" + ware (n.). Originally as distinguished from hollow ware; U.S. sense of "domestic cutlery" recorded by 1895.
Native Brit too - I think it's more of an "industry" term, across food service companies, whereas is in general use in the States. Might be an Americanism though, but have heard it pretty commonly here when in food prep circles.
In the U.S., "silverware" is probably even more common (is that what you say in the UK?), but HN readers probably tend to be the type reluctant to use such an obviously wrong term, since the knives, forks, and spoons included in the category are only in very rare cases actually made of silver. :) "Flatware" is more technical/industry, and the next most common if you don't like "silverware"; plus the general "cooking show" trend of everyone wanting to use industry terms to seem like food industry insiders.
1. utensils, as knives, forks, and spoons, used at the table for serving and eating food. 2. dishes or containers for the table that are more or less flat, as plates and saucers (source: the internet)