Social customs and ways of behaving change. Things which were considered impolite many years ago are now acceptable. Just a few years ago, it was considered impolite behavior for a man to smoke on street. No man who thought of himself as being a gentleman would make a fool of himself by smoking when a lady was in a room.

Customs also differ from country to country. Does a man walk on the left or the right of a woman in your country? Or doesn’t it matter? What about table manners? Should you use both hands when you are eating? Should you leave one in your lap, or on the table?

The Americans and the British not only speak the same language but also share a large number of social customs. For example, in both America and England people shake hands when they meet each other for the first time. Also Englishmen will open a door for a woman or offer their seat to a woman, and so will most Americans. While waiting in line, Englishmen will never push their way to the front. Neither do Americans. Promptness is important both in England and in America. That is, if a dinner invitation is for 7 o’clock, the dinner guest either arrives close to that time or calls up to explain his delay.

The important thing to remember about social customs is not to do anything that might make other people feel uncomfortable — especially if they are your guests. There is an old story about a man who gave a formal dinner party. When the food was served, one of the guests started to eat his peas with a knife. The other guests were amused or shocked, but the host calmly picked up his knife and began eating in the same way. It would have been bad manners to make his guest feel foolish or uncomfortable.

In many countries, the novel coronavirus (新冠病毒) has changed the way people saying hello to each other. To help stop the spread of coronavirus, People give up their usual ways of greeting and invent safe ways. Let’s take a look!

No kissing, even if you are French

French people’s favorite way of saying hello is to touch cheeks (脸颊) and make a kissing sound. But when facing the virus, too many kisses are not good.

Now Frenchmen has got a suggestion: simply looking into a person’s eyes can be a greeting. It’s not so romantic. But it’s safe.

Grandma knows best

Italians are also romantic people. When they meet, they always hug or kiss each other. Recently, an Italian grandma made a video to help everyone fight the disease. According to her, if you want to say hello to others, do not hug or kiss. Instead, you can close one of your eyes and give them a wink (眨眼). Isn’t it cute?

Pat (拍打) on the back

It’s a very Australian thing to put your hand out to shake hands. But if you do this, the virus can jump from one person to another. Now Australians are told that a pat on the back would be better. But it also has some problems. For example, it’s a bit impolite if you do this to your teacher. What do you think?

Is the footshake the new handshake?

A video shows that an interesting way to say hello is now popular in Iran, an Asian country. In the video, three Iran men meet and tap (敲) their feet against each other. It looks like they are playing a fun game. If we cannot shake hands, why not try to “shake” feet?