Never talking with your mouth full is an outdated rule, according to half of people surveyed.
Much of the dinnertime etiquette followed by parents and grandparents is a thing of the past, three-quarters of 18 to 40-year-olds said in a study.
Some 50 per cent rejected the need to finish a mouthful before engaging in table conversation, in the poll of 1,500 Britons.
Two in five also felt that saying thank you for your meal, not slouching and asking to leave the table were no longer relevant as rules.
The research, funded by plant-based food brand Vivera, identified a series of modern table manners that are replacing traditional ones, such as no vaping and putting mobile phones away.
Some 45 per cent said always sitting around a table together was a thing of the past, and that more people were ditching a knife and fork to tuck in with their hands instead.
Messy eating ‘all part of the fun’
And 38 per cent of the millennials and Generation Z Britons surveyed believed the days of using a napkin or serviette to protect clothes from food splatters were over.
Meanwhile, 22 per cent of those surveyed agreed that getting messy while eating food is no longer a taboo subject, and a fifth felt it was part of the fun.
And 46 per cent of those surveyed claimed it was common practice to start eating before everyone else has their food.
While modern table manners are often regarded as a sign of respect, they became a core part of the social advancement class system in Victorian England.
Table manners were also central in the cultural revolution of 18th century Europe, as depicted in works of art from the time, and were mentioned as far back as Geoffrey Chaucer's 14th-century The Canterbury Tales.
