| As a Certified Image and Etiquette consultant, for | | | | Clearly, etiquette does not imply formality. Etiquette |
| over 20 years I've watched the definition of | | | | offers a framework or blueprint for appropriate |
| etiquette evolve and expand, especially in the world | | | | behaviour according to the environment. Today, |
| of business. | | | | "netiquette," defines the rules of conduct for online |
| Thirty years ago, anyone using the word etiquette in | | | | communication. UPPER CASE, as we all know, is |
| everyday speech might have been laughed out of | | | | interpreted as shouting. |
| town. Let's face it; etiquette had a bad rap. It was | | | | The concept of etiquette had it origins in the |
| synonymous with pretension - the Holy Grail of an | | | | grandiose days of Versailles. Estiquette is Old French |
| elite fraternity of social snobs. Rather like curtsying at | | | | for ticket, sign or label, and during the reign of Louis |
| a debutantes' ball. | | | | XIV, zealous palace gardeners installed "Keep off the |
| There were exceptions, of course. No one | | | | Grass" signs. Courtiers were encouraged to respect |
| questioned the etiquette of addressing Margaret | | | | these signs or étiquettes. Before long, the |
| Thatcher as "Madam Prime Minister" - a clear | | | | term became the court buzzword for the rules |
| acknowledgment of respect for the United Kingdom's | | | | defining a strict code of contrived and highly |
| first woman elected Prime Minister. | | | | affected, rigid manners. |
| My recent keyword search in the New York Times | | | | Many so-called rules of etiquette were originally based |
| resulted in 14 articles and blogs that referred to | | | | on gallantry. The tradition of a gentleman walking |
| etiquette - all within the last month. Of those, 12 | | | | beside the road, with her ladyship closer to the |
| were cross-referenced to business etiquette! Topics | | | | buildings, comes to mind. During the 16th century in |
| ranged from the etiquette of twittering and | | | | England, garbage was often tipped out from the |
| conducting interviews, to the art of gracefully | | | | floors above street level. The gesture was to |
| declining alcohol at business events. The writers all | | | | protect women. Yet to many of today's young |
| used the word etiquette to express a combination of | | | | urbanites it makes no more sense than our |
| the right behaviour, courtesy, good form and | | | | grandparents' dance cards. |
| manners - simultaneously. | | | | Today, we associate etiquette with correct but not |
| Detractors of the word may still dismissively | | | | inflexible behaviour - it does, indeed, provide the |
| overreact to its usage for anything other than the | | | | specifications, or code for modern life. Etiquette is a |
| formalities of which fork to select at a five star | | | | constant work in progress. |
| restaurant. But the 14 mentions in the NYT included: | | | | A case in point of the etiquette evolution - is texting |
| golfing, surfing, biking and swimming pool etiquette. In | | | | at the dinner table appropriate? |
| a nutshell, sport etiquette! | | | | |