Aussie Etiket or Doing Things the Aussie Way [antikvár]

Introduction'Etiquette' is a French word, adopted by the English in those remote times when French was the language of diplomacy and politeness. 'Rendezvous' and 'RSVP' survive from the same snobbish social period.My dictionary defines 'etiquette' as 'The forms required by good breeding, or prescribed by authority, to be observed in social or ofl&cial life; observance of the proprieties of rank and occasion; conventional decorum.'It was 'observed' mainly by the upper classes, such as earls and other kinds of 'noblemen in the counties', one of whom is mentioned on labels of Holbrook's sauce bottles.These people were called 'parfait gentil hommes', later to become known as 'perfect gentlemen'.When observing a knight in shining armour riding a lolloping, splay-footed draught horse across your best malting barley patch, 'conventional decorum' demanded that you greeted him with, 'Avaunt there, sirrah. Comest thou in peace?' If he said, 'Nay, sirrah, cometh I to joust with thee,' then you were required to pull off your glove - gloves were worn by all perfect gentlemen to hide their dirty fingernails -and stroke him lightly across the visor with it.