phone at dinner
Table manners violation
Using a phone at dinner—checking messages, scrolling, taking calls—while eating with others.
The phrase typically appears in discussions of etiquette and social connection, usually as something to avoid: We have a rule against phones at dinner.
It represents a broader tension between digital habits and in-person presence.
- textingSending typed mobile messages
- rudeOffensively ill-mannered
- bad mannersSocially unacceptable behavior
- distractedUnable to concentrate
- scrollingMoving display content vertically
social media · ignoring · conversation · table · restaurant · etiquette · buzzing · notification · screen · glow · silent · vibrate · checking · family · meal · annoying · disconnect · present
- smartphone featurescalling, texting, smartphone, settings, dialing
phone at dinnerundivided attention
Complete concentration on one thing
active listening · eye contact · quality time · in the moment · focused attention
phone at dinnerproper etiquette
social grace · formal dining · courtesy · civility · decorum
phone, dinner, phones, phoned, phoning, telephone, telephony, telephonic, microphone