Martine’s Hand-book of Etiquette, and Guide to True Politeness contains some timeless wisdom on social etiquette that is sometimes left by the wayside in today’s digital age.
Here is an excerpt about the type of conversation “bores” you should avoid becoming, and what typifies each kind of improper speaker:
- The loud talker, who “silences a whole party by his sole power of lungs. All subjects are alike to him; he speaks on every topic with equal fluency, is never at a loss, quotes high authority for every assertion, and allows no one else to utter a word.”
- The excessive life-sharer, “who gives an account of his dogs, horses, lands, books, and pictures. Whatever is his, must, he thinks, interest others.”
- The clever bore “takes up every idle speech, to show his wisdom at a cheap rate.” This kind of speaker “cannot allow the simplest conversation to go on, without entering into proofs and details familiar to every child nine years of age.”
- The indifferent or apathetic bore who “speak of their ailings, diseases, or bodily infirmities, are offensive bores. Subjects of this sort should be addressed to doctors, who are paid for listening to them, and to no one else.”
- The lingering bore overstays his welcome and can “keep you talking near the fire till the beauty of the day is passed; and then take their leave.”
- The hobby-riders, who “constantly speak on the same eternal subject [and] bore you at all times and at all hours.”
- The Malaprops, who are “constantly addressing the most unsuitable speeches to individuals or parties.”
- The egotistical bore, who is ”ready to slime over every subject of discourse with the vile saliva of selfish vanity.”
(via Brain Pickings)
