Whenever, as a child, I forgot my table manners or just general etiquette, I recall my elders nagging that it showed that I had no “broughtupsy”. The word refers to good manners and to have it indicates that a person was brought up “’well” and behaves in such a way that doesn’t offend.
It was easy to disregard this steady reminder as just a nagging bother because, in my young eyes, once I wasn’t physically hurting someone, it seemed petty for them to constantly dictate how and what I should be saying and doing. Some days I was just in no mood to lift my head up and say good afternoon to every single person and if anything ‘broughtupsy’ lessons were always taught and encouraged in a way that showed control and authority as opposed how it actually fostered connections and in its own way comforted the person on the receiving end.
