History of the Word Etiquette

Have you ever wondered how the word etiquette came into being?   When King LouisXIV of France was ruling his country, he had elaborate parties at his palace.  His palace and the grounds were truly magnificent.  The grounds had beautiful gardens with all types of flowers, and the lawns were well manicured.   King Louis became quite annoyed with his guests because they kept walking all over his gardens trampling the flowers and walking over the manicured lawns.  He had his workmen put signs up all over the palace grounds.  These signs gave instructions such as:  Walk only on the pathways; Do not walk on the grass; Watch out for my beautiful flowers.  The french word for the little signs was etiquette.  Throughout the  years, etiquette started being the word for all the little signs which help us know what to do and what not to do.   In our world today, all these signs make up our rules of manners.  The signs tell us things such as: ”Don’t talk with food in your mouth.”  “Remember when calling someone to come to the phone, please cover the receiver so you are not yelling in the caller’s ear.”  “Always remember the basic words thank you and please.”  Manners help you know what to do and how to behave in our society.  The signs are a guideline to  help us interact with  one another.

What little signs can you think of that help you get along in today’s world?  Are there some that you don’t use as  much as you should?  Have you forgotten some of your manners altogether?  We are never too old to learn something new.  As adults, we must remember our manners and help our youth learn and practice theirs.

Questions or comments are always appreciated.

Ginny Brown
The Etiquette School of Northeast Georgia
Hoschton, Georgia (Hamilton Mill area, Dacula, GA)
Email Ginny Brown
678-889-4814 office
770-296-4159 cell

http://etiquette-blog.com