Etiquette as a code for social behaviour comes from the nobles in early modern France.
The word etiquette comes from the French word Étiquette which translates to a label or a placard.
This means there were rules—printed and posted—that governed acceptable or unacceptable social behaviour.
Legend has it that when Louis XIV’s gardener at Versailles discovered that the aristocrats were stepping into his garden, he put up signs, or “etiquettes,” to warn them off.
These placards didn’t have much impact, so the king himself had to intervene.
He insisted that everyone followed the etiquette, bringing about discipline.
Gradually, the etiquette expanded to the king’s court and codified things such as where to sit, what to wear, etc.
While ‘etiquettes’ are said to have originated here, the earliest records of ideal social practices date back to 2400 BC in Egypt.
Ptahhotpe, the highest-ranking officer in Egypt, is credited with preparing a list of manners as advice for young Egyptian men aspiring to climb the social ladder in those days.
One piece of advice from his writing was, “When sitting with one’s superior, laugh when he laughs.”
