Bodily Functions
Public display of bodily functions such as flatulence, burping, urinating, defecating, picking one's nose, loud snorting, belching are generally considered vulgar and/or disgusting. It is considered impolite not to cover one's mouth while yawning, sneezing or coughing, especially at the table. Opening ones mouth to talk whilst it contains food is also considered vulgar.
Spitting in the street is generally frowned upon and can actually be considered a misdemeanour in Britain, though such laws are rarely enforced.
Read more about this topic: Etiquette In Europe
Famous quotes containing the words bodily and/or functions:
“Sickness disgusts us with death, and we wish to get well, which is a way of wishing to live. But weakness and suffering, with manifold bodily woes, soon discourage the invalid from trying to regain ground: he tires of those respites which are but snares, of that faltering strength, those ardors cut short, and that perpetual lying in wait for the next attack.”
—Marguerite Yourcenar (1903–1987)
“One of the most highly valued functions of used parents these days is to be the villains of their children’s lives, the people the child blames for any shortcomings or disappointments. But if your identity comes from your parents’ failings, then you remain forever a member of the child generation, stuck and unable to move on to an adulthood in which you identify yourself in terms of what you do, not what has been done to you.”
—Frank Pittman (20th century)