Etiquette Rules That Are Out Of Date

2024 Author: Bailey Albertson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 12:53

Wipe your hands on the tablecloth and 4 more rules of etiquette that are hopelessly outdated

If you have to meet a person who, during a feast, wipes his hands on the tablecloth and forces all latecomers to drink a "penalty", you will probably consider him ignorant. But such behavior was once considered quite cultural.

Challenge to a duel

If the honor of a 19th century nobleman was hurt by a person of his equal status, he could challenge the offender to a duel. Sometimes the offended person accepted the apology, and an armed duel was avoided, but this happened quite rarely.

Duels were even arranged between women if they represented both sides of the conflict. Fortunately, today, fighting in most countries of the world is considered illegal and amounts to murder or attempted murder.

Wipe dirty hands on the tablecloth

People invented the plug several millennia before the beginning of our era, but it became widespread only in the middle of the 17th century. Until that moment, it was customary to take all solid food with your hands, which is why the tablecloth appeared.

During the meal, they wiped their fingers on it, stained with food. When the fork became a familiar cutlery not only for the nobility, but also for the poor, the need to wipe your hands on the tablecloth disappeared. Then it lost its original function, turning into an ordinary table decoration.

Get swoon

In the 16th century, the corset became an integral part of the costume of European women. This detail of the dress tightly pulled the lower part of the chest, which often led to hypoxia and loss of consciousness, especially if the woman began to breathe frequently from excitement.

Since then, corsets have gone out of fashion and then returned again, but women's fainting caused by unpleasant situations has not gone anywhere. This made women into the fragile creatures that society wanted them to be. Therefore, if the girl did not react to the bad news with a sudden fainting, it could be considered bad form.

Drink a "penalty" glass

Some historians believe that this tradition was invented by Peter I, who thus fought the tardiness of his courtiers. Those who arrived later than the appointed hour were forced by the emperor to drink vodka in a goblet, due to which the phrase “penalty glass” appeared.

The delinquent had to drain a 500 ml goblet decorated with a two-headed eagle. By the way, "penalties" were issued not only to late guests, but also to those who did not have time to get up to greet the emperor or refused to dance. Some even today pour a "penalty" for those who are late for the feast, but, fortunately, such people are becoming less and less.

For a man to walk from the side of the road from a lady

In the Middle Ages, men wore a sword or sword on their left thigh, so the ladies were supposed to walk on the right side of their gentlemen. In the 19th century, men no longer carried edged weapons with them, so the rule changed slightly. Now, while walking with a woman, the man had to move from the side of the roadway. Thus, he protected his companion from the mud, which could be splashed on them by a passing carriage. Today, none of these rules of etiquette have survived. The only exceptions are formal receptions for dignitaries, where women are still supposed to walk to the right of men.

But even modern etiquette continues to change and many traditions that were relevant 10-20 years ago are losing their strength today.