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Reader question: Please explain “polite society” in this sentence: There’s a saying that you should never talk about politics or religion in polite society. My comments: Polite society is a euphemism for the upper class. In the past, people from the polite society more or less referred exclusively the nobility, or the so-called noble families, you know, people who have titles such as Duke or Countess. Yeah, right, the aristocracy. These days, as society at large becomes more mobile – not noble – and diversified, polite society is more inclusive. Today, the well-educated professionals and rich people in general all seem to belong. Generally speaking, people in polite society call each other ladies and gentlemen. These people are – at the very least – well-mannered, well dressed and well spoken. They are sensitive to their surroundings and are considerate of others in their company. In our example, they don’t talk about weighty topics such as politics and religion because they might offend someone with what they say. You know, people’s politics and religions are so different these days, you never know. At any rate, one of the great characteristics of the so-called polite society is that people are – you guessed it – polite. Or they always appear so. They’re well trained. They know what to say and how to behave when they’re around other people. | 
