poking or playing with food using chopsticks
A breach of Japanese table manners; refers to the act of poking, stirring, or picking at food with chopsticks instead of eating properly.
Poking at your food with chopsticks is a behavior you should avoid as a matter of table manners.
The parent warned the child not to play with their food using chopsticks.
Standard kanji spelling for this etiquette term.
Contains outdated kanji; rarely used in modern writing.
From せせる (to poke or pick at) + 箸 (chopsticks). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the term is conventionally associated with the described table-manner breach.