In 1669, in a bid to cut down on violence, King Louis XIV of France decreed all pointed knives on the street or the dinner table illegal, and ordered all knife points ground down.

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Also on the table are a compass, map, knife, dark glasses and small mobile phone.

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Using beams of electrons, he carved a cantilever out of the edge of each crystal (think of a knife held down on a table, with the blade sticking out).

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One day, not long after she had endured yet another session under the surgeon's knife, he took a mirror from her dressing table and thrust it in front of her face to reflect the livid scars and the bruising under her eyes.

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We taught them to pass the salt around the table rather than over it, how they should place their knife and fork on their plates at the end of a meal, and the proper way to lean their soup or cereal bowl when spooning out the last drops.

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The knife, the stove, the refrigerator, the dining room table, and the cabinet are all wonders of human technological ingenuity.

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My anxiety was not eased by the presence of steak knives with heavy wooden handles and sharp serrated blades, and a sort of diabolical trolley that was wheeled, steaming, to the table by a stout man with a pencil mustache who with the flourish of a gleaming knife indicated the meat and demanded to know where I wanted it carved.

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No matter the temperature, the cake is so pretty it should be cut at the table, so bring it out on a platter and cut it into generous wedges using a serrated knife and a sawing motion.

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