9 Common Etiquette Rules Everyone Should Know About

Why would a modern person require to learn about etiquette? Our lives move fast, we eat on the go, stay all day in pyjamas, and drink tea and coffee through paper cups. But few times it’s really useful and important to slow down, have dinner at a fancy restaurant, and make a good impression. Being polite and appearing good never goes out of fashion.

Here we have jotted down the basic etiquette rules that will enable you to appear stylish and charming.

1. Men and Women

As per the basic common courtesy to meet someone there compulsorily should be a mediator. Take, for instance, a common friend, who can be requested to initiate a conversation between certain people.

A man should avoid holding a woman’s purse. Even if you are just trying to help. He can take a woman’s coat only to take it to the cloakroom.

2. Greeting

A proper greeting is most significant. The very first impression is relied on this because of which it’s useful to be aware of a couple of rules:

You should shake a person’s hand fast without holding it for a long time or drawing it toward you. You should respect your fellow counterpart personal space. Patting someone on the shoulder is regarded to be tacky. While greeting a woman, a man can bow a little.

3. Communication

Punctuality is important. You should arrive at meetings on time or before time. If you are by any chance going to be late, you should call your companion and apologize to him.

Compliment people quite frequently. Your companion will be pleased, and you can show off your ability of observation, your power to observe details, and your dedicated interest in your companion.

4. How to sit correctly

Good posture along with leg position while sitting are important. If you sit in a low armchair, avoid putting one leg over the other one. Keep your knees quite close to one other and your legs parallel. You can also go for a royal trick “Cambridge cross” – place one foot behind the other, crossing your ankles. It may enable you to feel like a queen.

5. Clothes

The right clothes can increase confidence and enable you to make a good impression on other people. It doesn’t imply that you should buy costly clothing. Take for instance, for a man, it’s very significant to always have completely clean shoes and a well-fitting jacket.
Avoid buying clothes with bad shoulder lengths. All parts of a suit should be the same design and it should be properly fitted.

A jacket sleeve should always cover your wrist, but it shouldn’t hide the lower joint of your thumb. As per the rules of etiquette, the lower button of the jacket should be kept unbuttoned.

It’s important to find a jacket that goes with your body type:

If you want to highlight your figure, select a slim-fit jacket.

If you want an impressive look, selected a double-breasted jacket.

It’s important to discover suitable clothes for a woman’s fashion. As a rule, it’s advised that a woman should select a dark skirt or trousers and a light top. This combination highlights their figure and makes them appear elegant and modest.

Modesty is also significant in wearing jewellery. A lot of jewellery in different designs represents its owner’s bad taste.

6. At the table

If you are welcomed to a table and there are few people that you don’t know, don’t talk with them before you are introduced to each other, it’s not considered polite.

Keep a look on your hands as well. Don’t place them on the table, it’s instead good to place them on your lap. Placing your phone on the table depicts that you’re not interested in the conversation.

7. The most important rules for drinking tea

To get to know someone better and have a better conversation, people invite each other for a cup of tea. You should not deny the invitation, it can be regarded as rude. Just memorize a few rules. Stir your tea properly, without making noise with the teaspoon.

You should not leave your spoon in the cup. Keep it on the corner of your saucer. You should not leave your spoon on top of the saucer.

A teacup is lifted with one hand and a saucer is held with the other one. It’s rude to hold a cup with both hands and leave the saucer on the table.

8. At a restaurant

If before going to a restaurant you say to your fellow, “I invite you,” it implies that you should pay. The sentence “Let’s go to a restaurant together.” depicts that you only pay for yourself.

There are various types of cutlery and you are not required to know all of them. Although, there are a few basic ones that you should learn.

1 – A napkin. 2 – A salad fork. 3 – A fork. 4 – A plate. 5 – A salad plate. 6 – A knife. 7 – A teaspoon. 8 – A soup spoon. 9 – A cup and a saucer (dessert). 10 – A glass of white wine. 11 – A glass of red wine. 12 – A glass of water. 13 – A dessert spoon. 14 – A dessert fork. 15 – A dessert knife. 16 – A plate for bread.

You should know how to keep your plate in order to give a signal to the waiter and finish your meal properly.

9. Pouring and drinking

For women, it is significant to be assured that your lipstick doesn’t leave marks on your glass. Dry your lips with the help of paper tissue before drinking.

Everyone at the table pours drinks themselves. A man should offer drinks to a woman initially.

Don’t pour too much, and particularly avoid overfilling the wine glasses to avoid spilling your drink on your clothes.