To slurp or not to slurp??

[Goldiegirl]

I can't stand the sound. It's disgusting. I wouldn't be allowed to eat at the table if I made all those icky, smacking sounds. My mother would've have asked me if I was raised in a barn. Truthfully my horses eat quieter. I can't even tolerate the sound of my cats eating canned food! YUCK! Oh, the burping out loud annoys me too!

[antinec]

I can slurp, but the water in the soup flies everywhere, namely in my wife's face
She still insists I slurp, regardless.

[Pepe]

I only slurp when I'm alone as it is a bit taboo out west. I don't mind it though, but it's when people chew with their mouth open that I loose it. That's the wrong kind of See-Food diet!

[TuRbOxChAz]

my friends got me to slurp all types of noodles...and now my mom is like "wtf, don't make so much noise when eating!" cuz we're korean and we don't slurp.

[a51ts4]

I'm not used to making the noise. So I tend not to do it. Although, Portuguese people tend to slurp eating soup (at least in my family :P), I have to hear my dad do it !

[lunanueva]

I voted "No, I can't". Sometimes I really TRY to do it when I'm at a Japanese friend's home and the main dish is soba, udon or ramen, just as a sign of politeness and respect to their customs. But as soon as I get tired of trying, I simply say "it's delicious, but I can't slurp anymore". Then I briefly explain manners in Western countries, which usually leads to interesting discussions.

Once I asked a Japanese friend: "when you eat spaghetti, do you slurp?", and she said no, but couldn't really explain to me why.

[bakaKanadajin]

there was a good soba place near my branch in Tokyo, I ate there alot for lunch and dinner. I think generally in Japan, when eating noodles its socially acceptable to slurp and I felt no shame in doing so. Everyone slurped, even the women, its just the easiest way to eat noodles and I think everyones too polite and focused on their food to really care.

[Lledargo]

I can kind of slurp my noodles, I am not great at it though, I tend to get the broth everywhere when I do.

[chickie]

I can't slurp however I tried.

[hjordis]

Nobody ever bothered to teach me table manners, so I have no problem slurping noodles. It's what I've always done. This whole not being able to slurp confuses me.

[jclark]

I was just talking about this with my friend the other day. How do you not slurp when you are using chop sticks to eat noodles?

[Orochimaru]

Sometimes I slurp my drink very loudly at dinner when I'm bored. But I would never slurp a noodle.

[Mark of Zorro]

I wouldn't be allowed to eat at the table if I made all those icky, smacking sounds. My mother would've have asked me if I was raised in a barn.

There is a big difference between the sound of slurping noodles and smacking your lips.

I do find it annoying when people smack their lips more than a little. But I never found slurping to be such a problem. The smacking seems to me to be a self-control problem. But the slurping seems necessary, especially if soup or noodles are hot.

And it is hard to be quiet eating noodles with chopsticks. So much so its not worth trying.

I guess the thing about me is that I conform my emotions to practicality. It seems to me most people want the world to bend to their emotions and little idiosyncrasies and that is nothing but a path to frustration.

[GaijinGolfer]

I slurp and its always been a natural talent for me. Slurpring your ramen noodles is a must.

[Akairyuu]

I always slurp for Scotland when I'm eating ready noodles at home lol. I actually find it hard not to slurp as it just seems to comes naturally for me and plus it stops the noodles from burning my mouth. I do try and tone it down a bit when I'm having ramen at a Japanese restaurant with my friends; I still end up slurping a little bit, though.

[Mike Cash]

"Slurp for Scotland"

I can't decide if that is better than "Close your eyes and think of England" or not....