I was a little taken aback and thought it was just an unconscious slip, but then this happened again with a different friend.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: We have a longtime friend, and now neighbor, who cannot consume food orally due to extensive cancer ...

GENTLE READER: That you are tempted to add such a disclaimer suggests to Miss Manners that you already know something about ...

Miss Manners reminds you that correcting another person’s manners is, as a rule, rude. Your friend’s mother was availing herself of the exception for parents and those acting in their place.

This story appears in the March/April 2017 issue of National Geographic History magazine. The 16th century was an age of exploration in all senses of the term, a period when colossal advances in ...

Please send your questions to Miss Manners at her website, www.missmanners.com; to her email, [email protected]; or ...

GENTLE READER: It is impolite to tell others that they are being rude, but perhaps Miss Manners can accommodate ... the waiter is walking you to the table, your friend will immediately understand ...