Politeness In Society

Chivalry is not sexist

It is one of the few areas, in fact, where I can feel a man. After all, my wife is undoubtedly a better driver, more clued up at fixing the washing machine, holds more academic qualifications and is the only one in our household who can deal with a builder.

Chivalry, like most Medieval concepts such as courtly love, provides a fairly complex but practical code of conduct. And humans are simple souls who like to follow rules and instructions. They make us feel confident about what we have to do in certain situations.

Who should pay up the bill? A curiously modern ritual of awkwardness in dating, that quite spoils the coffee and petit fours. If you're chivalrous, there is no debate. The man effortlessly, unshowily, takes out his card and slips it to the waiter. Not because he is the higher earner, or because he wishes to buy favours, but because he wants the evening to go smoothly. Because he is polite.

Of course, if truth be told, I am rubbish at most of all of these rules. I am at least three months behind on my thank you letters, I am frequently caught munching on a Kit Kat in the street and I try to avoid walking into doorways simultaneously with anyone else, thus avoiding any door holding mix-up.

But to anyone who should dare question my motives, I can only retort with the moto of the Order of the Garter, the ultimate chivalric code: Honi soit qui mal y pense.

Social Etiquette – The Art Of Politeness | Anks Image Blog

What Is Being Politeness?

While etiquette is about the rules of conduct in a society, politeness is basically the practical use of this etiquette. When you apply the rules of conduct, display good manners while expressing yourself and consider the thoughts and feelings of others around you, you are being polite .

How To Be Polite?

When you are polite and courteous, display good manners, people automatically respond to you better. For instance, when you say something to a person with a smile, you can expect a smile in return, or at least a good response. People are less inclined to be hostile to someone who’s smiling at them, right?

So the best way you can be polite is with a SMILE!

Another way of showcasing your social etiquette skills is by being gentle and not being too forceful, insistent or argumentative.

I’m not saying you need to be a pushover, but if you speak gently and your body language is not aggressive, you can expect a similar response from the others around you. Having said that, I’d like to add that you need to get a little bit forceful and assume an aggressive body stance every once in a while to stop people running all over you.

What Is Too Polite?

Never be a pushover. Always be mindful of where your politeness can lead you into. Remember the time you spent listening to the ramblings of your friend about her stuck-up boyfriend? What exactly did you do?

If you stopped her, then good for you! Yes, you might have felt you were being rude, or maybe even she might have thought of you as being rude, but the point is you stopped her from wasting your time.

But what about if you did go on listening to your friend? Well, you’re being a pushover. Your friend is taking advantage of your sweet nature to vent her frustrations on you while you waste your time listening to her. You should be there for your friend in her time of need, but not at a position where you’re unnecessarily being taken advantage of.

This is just a preview into the Social Etiquette features we concentrate on. We’ll help you understand how to behave with others around you, and will also guide you to deal with difficult situations. Visit our site at http://www.anksimage.com for more about Social Etiquette .

Politeness in language, studies in its history, theory and practice

Politeness of manners and behaviour in fashionable society, From the French of the Abbé de Bellegarde

Linguistic politeness across boundaries, the case of Greek and Turkish

Terms of (im)politeness, a study of communicational properties of traditional Chinese (im)polite terms

Women of quality, accepting and contesting ideals of femininity in England, 1690-1760