I am sure that most have had the experience where you're sitting at the dinner table and all of a sudden you hear "Don't speak with your mouth full!" Or something relating to how you are holding your fork or playing with your food.
Etiquette is something that we learn from our parents, grandparents and sometimes even your peers. We know it's not polite to use your hands to serve yourself and only children have food fights.
Of course there are other types of etiquette then the dinner table etiquette, but I will focus on the table.
Etiquette is something that we learn from our parents, grandparents and sometimes even your peers. We know it's not polite to use your hands to serve yourself and only children have food fights.
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I have early memories about my mum telling us all that we should eat like "ladies" and my Grandma would also school us on the ways of the table. It became second nature to eat with the fork and knife, keep our mouths closed and not look like savages at the table.
Have you ever seen a person talking with a mouthful of food? Did you think it was disgusting? Who decided that we have to have certain mannerisms?
Some table manners from other countries are:
- India: Indian etiquette and good manners vary from region to region. For instance, in North India it is impolite to dirty more than the first two segments of your fingers.
- China: Be observant to other peoples' needs by placing food in other’s empty plates (be sure to use the serving utensils; otherwise use the back end of your chopsticks) and refilling glasses.
Etiquette is definitely still taught within the home today. Eating is a ritual for many cultures that is meant to bring people together. In order to be able to form any kind of bond, the people involved need to know the rules of the table so nobody gets seriously offended or disgusted.
"Manners matter" so said the Queen from Princess Diaries. It's interesting that as small as the world is today it still holds to its differences, like different manners. Do you think that etiquette is something all culture pass as folk knowledge, or do some people go to school for it?
ReplyDeleteLike the saying "manners matter", I remember my dad and all of the little sayings he came up with to teach us manners. Things that may have even been specific to our family, like no pointing.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good point Erin, I' haven't heard of many etiquette schools in the U.S. but I wonder if they are more common in the rest of the world. Do you think that the folk knowledge only applies to the U.S.?
Well in the past, didn't girls go to boarding school to learn manners? I think folk knowledge can exist anywhere where people pass knowledge on to the next generation. Knowledge isn't limited to one country, and I think folk knowledge might even be more prevalent in countries or areas without things like the Internet or even books, because those people have to rely on the things they learn from those around them rather than any sophic/ formal learning.
ReplyDeleteKim, good point on how folk knowledge is sort of the base of all knowledge that society goes back to when their other forms fail them! I also agree with you that folk knowledge isn't limited to one country, but a specific type of folk knowledge might be if its people never move or teach those not of their country.
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