I probably do all sorts of "rude" things unwittingly. I think being overly fussy and sensitive about table manners is rude!

"tacky and rude"? who freaking cares if you put your napkin on the plate?!?

honestly, i think that it's ok depending on where you are and who you're with. i think that considering the waiter or busboy would have to touch the napkin, i'm one to try to make it as 'clean' as possible and just put it all together in a neat bundle. i think that if everyone's finished, and you're just waiting for a check or having conversation, then there's nothing wrong with it.

if it's a cloth napkin, you put it to the side of the plate. that's how i've always done it. paper napkins are fine on the plates.

I don't have an actual opinion on the rudeness of it, but I don't really do it. I just put my napkin on the side of my plate

Jude C has it! The napkin is a way of sending signals to your waiter - when you get up but intend to come back, the napkin goes on your seat. When you've finished, the napkin goes on the table - but not on your plate. That unnecessarily dirties it.

Technically, proper etiquette says that the napkin should be placed to the left of the plate and utensils diagonally across the plate with handles pointing to the right. If you want to be uptight about it...

I just put mine to the side. I've never really though much about it.

With paper napkins its fine. I think with cloth ones its kinda gross. I'm not sure why though.

I don't think it matters either way, I always put my napkins on my plate when I'm finished eating.

oftentimes i just keep it in my lap until the waiter is at the table about to take my plate and i kinds throw it on there
but it varies with who i'm dining with/where/their lead

I think it is rude when it is a cloth napkin.

I probably wouldn't put a cloth napkin on the plate, because it makes a bigger mess for whoever is going to be cleaning it. But I ALWAYS put paper napkins on the plate. It helps me from over-eating. I put the napkin down, and voila! I'm done.

If it's a paper napkin, I crumble it up and put it on my plate. If it's a cloth napkin, I usually keep it in my lap until it's time to go. Then I set it beside my plate.

I don't put the napkin on the plate just in case i want to sneak another bite.

I tuck mine under the edge of my plate.

I generally put my napkin on the plate too, but I'm usually trying to hide the mess I made of my plate I only do that if they're disposable napkins, though. If they're linen, I usually tuck it next to my plate when I'm finished. Generally, I think it depends on where you are and who you're eating with. If it's Miss Manners, then you should probably wait and just follow her example

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Paper napkins get thrown away, so I think it's fine to put them on your plate. I try to make things as easy on the busboy as possible, so that's what I do in a more casual restaurant. If the napkin is cloth, it should go on the table so no one has to pick it up with food or sauce on it. As someone else said--traditional etiquette is to put it to the left of your plate, if you want to be really proper about it.

Depending on what I've just had, I think it is kay to put your napkin on your plate in certain circumstances. Not if you have a plate full of sauce though, or if it'll make more of a mess. I think it's a good signal to the waiter that you are finished, but placing it next to your plate is just as easy most of the time.

I voted yes but not because it's tacky and rude it just grosses me out for some reason...I think about the person having to clean it after you do it and it just makes me feel bad for some reason...It's more of a personal choice though, I wouldn't think anything bad about a person for doing it after all I am known to lean my elbows on the table during a meal which is supposedly "rude" or bad manners. I usually just place my napkin next to my plate when I am done

I'm with the crowd that distinguishes between paper vs. cloth. Paper, on the plate it goes. It just gets scraped into the garbage with everything else. Cloth, it's yucky to put it on the plate, proper or not, to me.

I've never really thought about this, but I was taught to keep the napkin in my lap until I'm leaving the table - and at that time to put the napkin next to the plate.

my boyfriend puts his cloth serviette on his plate when done a meal and it makes me cringe!!!! i hate it so much! Odd enough, when I was serving tables in a restaurant, I really didn't care what people did as the cloth napkins went straight into the laundry bin.

I had a bf that would always put his napkin in his plate at home after we ate. Usually he hadn't even used it. It drove me nuts and seems really rude and careless.

I don't necessarily think it's rude, but it's easier for the wait staff to clean it up if you leave a cloth napkin beside your plate. If it's a paper napkin, it's easier for them if you put it on your plate. I always make it a point to make clean up as easy as possible for the staff. I've been through it and it's not fun.

I agree with those who said cloth napkin on the plate afterwards is rude, but paper napkins are acceptable.

It honestly skeeves me out for the napkin to be on the plate. Especially if there's still sauce or other foodstuffs on the plate. Ew.

I think that if its a paper napkin and the meal and your dining partner(s) are casual then the napkin on the plate is perfectly acceptable and even makes for an easier clean up, but if nice linen napkins are used then putting that napkin on the plate is rude and just plain messy/gross.

I was brought up knowing that you place your napkin nicely on your plate when you are done. If it is Denny's I just toss it on there, but if I am at a more upscale place I will place the napkin on my plate, but away from any food that may still be on there. I was told it signifies when you have completed your meal and the waiter knows to remove your plate.

Unfortunately I have adapted this habit. I've done it out of need due to over-eager waiters who grab my plate before I'm done. Maybe if the service were better I wouldn't place my napkin on the plate, but oh, how I dare to dream...

if it's a paper napkin at some burger place or somewhere of that calibur, where your food probably came to you in a basket, why not toss your napkin in there? but if it's linen, NO, tuck it under the right side of your plate. how upset would a host be to see her linens covered in what was left on your plate?

I always thought it was to signal the waiter that your plate can be cleared. I never put mine on the plate because I don't want to mix the napkin with food bits.

I don't think it matters and I don't put that much energy into where my napkin is when I sit down. I have a tad more important things to worry about.

You should always nicely fold your napkin and put it on the table. I find it to be extremely rude to put napkins on a plate. I might sound a little extreme, but I can never dine with a person if I know that they don't have decent table manners.