Social etiquette – What is a proper towel or napkin?

There are many debates about the correct use of language when it comes to etiquette standards. If it is the difference between “toilet” and “toilet”; whether to say “excuse me”, “excuse me” or “what?” or whether it is correct to sit on a “sofa” or “sofa”, there is a wide range of attitudes about the correct term to use in polite society.

One thing to keep in mind is that what is considered correct will also vary depending on the country in which you reside. In Britain, the use of the word towel instead of napkin is sometimes thought to be “common”. Although in America, where the term “napkin” is always used, the use of the word “serviette” tends to mark the speaker as British (but not “common”) when heard. In Canada, both words are used interchangeably, and since both words actually originate from the same word in the French language, this has often been attributed to French influence in that country. (Although, in direct contradiction to this, Canada chose to use the word “CV” over the term “resume”, which would indicate that other factors may also have been involved.)

In Britain in recent years a lot of people have been using the term napkin, because the word napkin (as mentioned above) is considered common. When asked, many people mentioned the difference between the two words through their use in everyday language and in society. For example, “Imagine asking for more napkins at McDonald’s, or a napkin at a fancy restaurant!” Many people consider a napkin to be made of paper while a napkin is made of linen. This attitude could be attributed to the popularity and rise of items like paper napkins over linen ones. As a result of these changing perceptions, many people would consider napkin to be the correct term, since linen or cloth napkins are the only acceptable form of napkin for use in polite society. On the contrary, in the United States they have maintained their original use of napkin instead of defining the difference by saying “paper napkin” and “cloth napkin”.

In fact, both the word towel and the napkin come from the French language, being napkin has its origin in the French word “napkin”, which translates as a tablecloth or cover for a table; the addition of “-kin” simply indicates a smaller version. With this in mind, many now argue that the word napkin is still grammatically incorrect and that the correct term to be used in polite society should be “table napkin”, although many still classify this as a pedantic detail. Ultimately, there is no absolutely correct answer and the term you choose to use depends on your personal preference.