Some people are so used to chewing with their mouths open that they don’t know when they do it in public. The truth is that not everyone would be comfortable or can bear the sound of someone else chewing, so at some point, you would need to tell them.
But how do you do that? What if you don’t want to offend the person by saying this? There are so many ways you can politely tell someone not to chew with their mouth open.
In this article, we’ll look at some ways in which you can tell someone not to chew their food with their mouth open. Read on till the end to understand better.
10 polite ways to tell someone not to chew with their mouth open
There are so many ways you can politely tell someone not to chew with their mouth open. In this article, we will break these polite ways into 2 broad ways which are the Direct and Indirect ways.
The Direct ways of telling someone not to chew with their mouth open are;
- An informal request
- Tell them jokingly
- Whisper nice words
- Ask for a brief meeting
- Sign language
- Show them how you chew
- Tell him you can see what’s happening in his mouth
An informal request
An informal request is usually the best way to talk to the person, this is because he or she gets to hear and know how you feel. The person would not need to guess if you’re comfortable with it or not.
You get to speak your mind and be open. You might be sitting close to a person that chews with his or her mouth open, this person may even be your co-worker or a seatmate.
You can politely tell the person to chew by closing his or her mouth. You have to say or make this request in the most casual way possible.
This is to show that you’re not taking the matter too seriously. You can even try to put a little smile on your face while making this request.
You can go ahead to explain how it makes you feel uncomfortable and how you’ll appreciate it if he or she can chew with a closed mouth.
Remember, it’s a casual request which should be made casually. Your request can be made like this;
-Hi, sorry for interrupting but I’m trying to concentrate but the noise you’re making with your mouth is kind of distracting. Could you please chew with your mouth close?
Tell them jokingly
Aside from making your request casual, you can tell this person to chew quietly by saying it in a joking manner such that the person would not feel offended or embarrassed. Of course, you’ll need to smile and maybe even laugh too.
Telling someone about their bad eating habit jokingly would ease the tension and might even make the person laugh along with you. It is a very casual and polite way of telling someone to chew without opening their mouth.
Humor has a way of lightening the mood and also keeps the tone friendly. Research has shown that people tend to remember information better and faster when it is humorous, so you can use this as a tool to pass your message.
Your conversation may go like this;
“Sam, I can see you’re enjoying your sandwich, hahaha look at your face hahaha. Sam, could you try to eat it with your mouth closed, or else I’ll take it from you hahahahaha”.
What if you don’t know this person but still need to tell them? Should you still say it jokingly?
This method would work best for someone whom you’re familiar with, it could be a friend, a co-worker, your husband, your wife, or even your boyfriend.
But you can also use this for someone you don’t know but be careful as it may be sometimes tricky. Some people might pick offense by you laughing, so try not to do it too much.
Whisper nice words
Whispering is another way of communicating silently. By whispering, you’re talking to the person but quietly in such a way that another person next to him or she may not even hear.
It is very easy and also very direct as the person would easily know what you’re saying. You can either whisper to the person face to face or in the person’s ear.
This is also a silent and calm conversation that both parties understand. If the person is sitting next to you, you can just whisper and say,
“Could you please chew with your mouth closed?I can hardly concentrate with you chewing with your mouth open”
To make your request more polite and casual, you can give a little smile after saying this. You can be a bit dramatic if you want by placing the back of your hand beside your lips. This is a very casual and direct way of telling someone not to chew with their mouth open.
Ask for a brief meeting
Requesting for a casual meeting is also a direct way of telling a person not to chew with their mouth open. Here, all you just have to do is ask the person to see you outside for a minute or two.
This casual meeting happens when you don’t want to embarrass the person by saying it openly and you also don’t want to whisper so that people around won’t get a hint of what you would say.
It is quite easy as you’ll get to have a one-on-one conversation with the person privately.
You can ask the person for a brief meeting in this way;
“Please can we meet outside quickly? Can I see you for a minute? Do you have a minute, please”?
When you’re alone with the person you can directly ask the person to chew with his or her mouth closed. Your conversation can go like this;
“Sorry for interrupting you but would you mind eating with your mouth closed? I can hardly think of you chewing that way, could you please chew with your mouth closed? I would appreciate it if you would chew your food with your mouth closed”.
These are polite ways of telling someone not to chew with their mouth without being rude or trying to embarrass the person. This method allows you to air your view in a casual way that the person at fault would understand.
Sign language
The use of sign language is a tool that is very useful when it comes to telling someone not to chew with their mouth open. It involves using signs and gestures to talk to a person or pass a message.
It is a silent way of passing a message just like eye contact. You can tell the person to chew with their mouth closed by placing your hands on your mouth while looking directly at the person.
This would immediately tell the person that he should chew with his or her mouth closed. It is a very easy sign that anybody would understand, all you just need to do is do it well and make sure the person is looking directly at you when you do it.
To make this look more casual, you should give a brief smile while making this sign. It automatically tells the person that you’re not taking it too seriously.
Sign languages are usually very casual and it is mostly used by friends and peers. This means that whoever you’re doing this to must be someone close to you.
Show them how you chew
This may not be compulsory but it works as well. You can do this during your brief meeting or private meeting which you requested.
You should know that this must be done with someone you’re close to in other to avoid embarrassment.
All you need to do is show the person the way to chew with a closed mouth. You can just say;
“Sam, you can chew with your mouth closed like this … see very easy”.
Tell him you can see what’s happening in his mouth
This method too may not be compulsory. It is very casual and can be humorous depending on how you say it.
Telling him or her that you can see what’s going on inside their mouth can make them close their mouth. Instead of telling him or her not to chew with their mouth open you can use this as an alternative statement.
It is a very polite, casual, and humorous statement. This statement should be used on someone you’re close to. This is because not everyone may take this as a humorous statement.
The Indirect ways of telling someone not to chew with their mouth open are;
- Make eye contact with them
- Pass a note
- Bring it up during a casual discussion
Make eye contact with them
Simply making eye contact is another way of telling someone to chew with their mouth closed. Looking straight into the person’s eyes would send a message that only this person would understand.
It is best to do this with someone you’re familiar with as doing it with a stranger might cause some issues.
It works perfectly if you’ve probably been correcting this person for a while and this time instead of talking, you’ll use your eyes to tell them.
Making eye contact is a very polite way of saying Eat with your mouth closed. This is because you would not need to say any embarrassing word/s to him or her but you’re still saying something only with your eyes.
This could happen in a few seconds and it’s very easy you don’t need to think of what to say.
Pass a note
This is another indirect way of telling someone not to chew with their mouth open. It is very much easy and polite as you may not even need to talk.
All you simply need to do here is get a piece of paper and write down in a few words what you need the person to do. It doesn’t have to be so long, a sentence or two is enough to let the person know that you’re not comfortable with how they chew.
You should ensure the note is simple, straightforward, and as well polite. If your note becomes too long, it may not only be boring but could as well look like a complaint.
Alternatively, you can text the person. Aside from writing a note, a simple text would do. Just ensure you make it short and simple.
Bring it up during a casual discussion
This is also an indirect way of telling some to chew with their mouth closed. It happens during casual conversations. You can bring up your discomfort about the way the person chews while having a chat with the person.
Though this way isn’t direct the person would get the hint if he or she is faulty. All you need to do here is try to be smart and know when to bring it up such that it would look like it’s part of the discussion.
However, ensure you don’t dwell on the topic for too long. Just mention how it makes you feel and continue with your conversation. If the person is faulty, he or she would adjust to a better way.
Conclusion
Letting the next person beside you or your fellow diner see your food as you chew is considered bad manners. It might also be very disturbing to chew with your mouth open as food may likely come out of your mouth.
In this article, we’ve talked about several ways in which you could politely tell someone not to chew with their mouth open, and we also established that you can do this either directly or indirectly.
You should also use polite words always whenever you’re to tell someone to eat with their mouth closed.