Topic: Emily Post

1 chapters across the catalog

47: Killer Wasp
2:26:13 - 2:30:19

47: Killer Wasp

WASP Etiquette Lessons and Language Identifiers

Etiquette rules, such as not saying "drapes" or "lingerie," serve as linguistic identifiers to separate the WASP elite from the lower classes. The hosts discuss being raised according to Emily Post's rules and how these "boule lessons" were adopted by upwardly mobile black families. The story of Tina Turner returning from England with a British accent is used to show how language is used to signal a change in social status.