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58th out of 72 books
—
11 voters
Miss Manners' Basic Training: The Right Thing to Say
Miss Manners hereby declares that "You look terrific -- did you have a facelift?" is not an acceptable compliment. For this and the other myriad rudeness that nowadays pass for consolation, congratulation and other forms of verbal communication, Miss Manners provides politely pointed comebacks, as well as the gracious and proper thing to say in any situation.
Miss Manners f...more
Miss Manners f...more
Hardcover, 192 pages
Published
April 20th 1998
by Crown
(first published 1998)
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What can I say? I have a weakness for Miss Manners. She is frequently insightful, usually interesting, and always entertaining. Unless one hates the entire idea of etiquette, I can think of no author better suited to educate and entertain one.
This little book focuses to a large extent on customary remarks ("Congratulations!", "I'm so sorry.") and how and why they are often kinder, more thoughtful, less painful, etc., etc. than whatever spontaneous utterances one might be inspired to produce in t...more
This little book focuses to a large extent on customary remarks ("Congratulations!", "I'm so sorry.") and how and why they are often kinder, more thoughtful, less painful, etc., etc. than whatever spontaneous utterances one might be inspired to produce in t...more
Funny, kill-them-with kindness ideas for how to handle most situations. I would have liked it more if the readers' questions sections weren't quite so large, because many of their dilemmas are irrelevant for me. But overall, a good guide.
There is not a piece of advice in this book (humourous though it may be) that is not common sense. I was hoping for a way to learn to say "No" to people - as though doing it politely might somehow make it easier for me - which was one of the chapters advertised on the book's dust jacket cover, but only found phrases tailored to individual situations (which I'm not actually convinced were sent in by readers, but rather written by the author, since her answers were so wonderfully tidy and the voic...more
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I find whenever I need to brush up on my manners, Ms. Manners is the best. There are so many times when I could have used her when nosy people would pry into your life unwelcomingly.
Dec 27, 2008
Pipgargery
added it
Miss Manners' Basic Training: The Right Thing to Say by Judith Martin (1998)
May 12, 2009
Julie
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I find her enormously entertaining, and I also generally like her suggestions!
Humorous. Informative. Empowering.
Apr 06, 2009
Jenny
added it
read in 2003. I love Miss Manners
Great read !
Nice, but dated in language.
A quick read and often very amusing - this is sort of a Miss Manners column plus - there is narrative content plus some illustrative letters to Miss Manners, with a focus on responses to different situations, often in bold text. I can't really remember reading Miss Manners' column as much as Dear Abby/Ann in my youth, and regretfully so - she has a wonderful dry sense of humor.
Miss Manners is the master of the freezing reply to a left-handed compliment. She is also hilarious.
One can always use a refresher on etiquette & manners.
Miss Manners is always good for a laugh.
Apr 28, 2013
Tk Morlok
marked it as to-read
Mar 08, 2013
Maryah
marked it as to-read
Feb 08, 2013
John Dumas
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Jan 29, 2013
Jonathan Lovelace
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Jan 23, 2013
Voracious
marked it as to-read
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Judith Martin (née Perlman), better known by the pen name Miss Manners, is an American journalist, author, and etiquette authority.
Since 1978 she has written an advice column, which is distributed three times a week by United Features Syndicate and carried in more than 200 newspapers worldwide. In the column, she answers etiquette questions contributed by her readers and writes short essays on pro...more
More about Judith Martin...
Since 1978 she has written an advice column, which is distributed three times a week by United Features Syndicate and carried in more than 200 newspapers worldwide. In the column, she answers etiquette questions contributed by her readers and writes short essays on pro...more
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