Spitting can spread diseases and is simply unpleasant to look at. So, no matter the origins, it’s clear that this folkway isn’t too serious if broken, although we still try to adhere to it customarily to be polite. If you place your elbows on the table, you’re taking up too much space from people around you. Feasts used to be enjoyed at large tables with people squished together on a bench seat. The other theory is that elbows take up too much table space. One is that elbows on the table signify that you’re slouching, which was against polite custom in high society in England. This folkway stems all the way back to medieval times.Īccording to this source, there are two possible origins of this folkway. The famous Jimmy Buffet song ‘five o’clock somewhere’ points toward a folkway among adults in Western societies: don’t drink alcohol before 5pm!įor Buffet, he is singing about how he wants to break that folkway by saying “well, it’s not 5pm here yet, but it is somewhere, so I’ll have a drink anyway”.īut for most of us, the idea here is that you shouldn’t have alcohol until you have finished work for the day and you’re ready to relax after having a productive day. We learn to raise our hands first at school, but we still use the hand-raising system in adulthood (such as during a presentation at work or a journalist press pack). The person in control of the discussion (a moderator or teacher) will select you and allow you to talk. Usually, we expect people to raise their hands for their turn to speak. Raising your Hand to Speakįor society to function in a fair and civil way, we need to take turns. But you’re not going to get in trouble off the police or even told you’re immoral because this is just a customary folkway and not a taboo, more, or law. If you don’t wear your school uniform in a school that enforces a school uniform policy, you might get in trouble off your teacher and a letter might be sent home to your parents. In the UK, the folkway is to wear a uniform in public schools, while in the USA, the folkway is to simply dress comfortably at school. This is an interesting folkway because it differs so much between countries. You’re just breaking a custom or ‘folkway’. If you don’t dress appropriately, your boss might have a word with you, but you’re definitely not doing something worth shunning you for (a ‘taboo’), immoral (what we call a ‘more norm’) or illegal (a ‘legal norm’). These shirts are more comfortable and less constricting so you can do physical labor. If you’re a plumber or a carpenter, you might instead wear a cotton collared shirt where the collar is to protect you from sunburn. In these environments, the norm is to wear a collared shirt for men or maybe high heels for women.įor ‘blue collar’ industries, there is another set of folkways altogether.

This is, of course, for ‘white collar’ industries like law and accounting. We have a term called ‘business attire’ to explain what we consider to be appropriate dress wear in a business environment.

Chances are you won’t say anything to them though.

You might also see adults who don’t cover their mouth or nose and you might get a little annoyed by their rudeness. But you’ll often see young children who don’t do this because they haven’t learned this norm yet. Usually, our parents teach us this norm when we are young. We consider it polite to cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze to prevent the spread of sickness. Covering your Mouth when you Cough or Sneeze Read Also: Folk Culture Examples Examples of Folkways 1.

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