The tradition dates back to the days of the black plague where so many were dying so quickly that the Catholic church gave the common people the ability to perform last rights.
No, it’s part of the lovely cultural etiquette of Western weddings like everyone rising when the bride begins walking down the nave and behaving with dignity while the vows are being said. Plenty of wedding traditions are based on formal etiquette just as the wedding ceremony itself (all that really necessary for a marriage is signing the license). It’s all about passing on traditions of courtesy and formal behavior.
ISTM this is part of a much broader attitude in which the guy “wins” the girl as some sort of prize. The girl is generally not similarly thought to have won anything, officially at least.
It’s also reflected when guys make these chivalrous get-down-on-their-knees marriage proposals. They’re asking for something, the girl is bestowing it.
Oh, my, yes. As I’ve said here before, I was in the center of a continuous stream of weddings of Good Baptist Girls at the height of the evangelical movement, and they made no bones at all about how a wedding was the Girl Nobly Giving Up Her Greatest Treasure. So therefore everything revolved around her and the word “no” did not exist and absurdity piled on absurdity, each and every time, across the economic spectrum.
I think this was a retro/vival of old (prewar) thinking, and while most wedding parties today would gracefully disdain to say any of it applies… it pokes through in every ritual, every attitude, every tradition. It’s Her Day… Because, You Know.
This really bugged me when I had to plan my own wedding. I’m an introvert. I can’t think of anything I want less then a party where I am supposed to be the center of attention. We did our best to make it a day about community, since to me, a wedding is a community ritual where you share in the joy of two people you love very much. It turned out lovely, but just the idea puts my nerves on edge, and my initial reaction when someone tells me they are planning a wedding is some combination of empathy and pity. There’s no good reason for such a joyous thing to be so stressful.
AMEN. Also, when you meet an enthusiastic, “welcoming”, church member when visiting a church you may hit with: Have you been here before? Where do you work? Are you married? Have your kids tried Sunday School?..with no followup as to what THEIR situation is. I will answer and immediately reverse the question if this goes on for more than 2 rounds. I see this a “polite” way to check out strangers.
Once we were members of a church where there was a guy that had to “check up” on you EVERY TIME YOU MET. I would counter with a question about his animal testing work at Proctor & Gamble which usually sent him on his way. 
So I am in the elevator with 5 men. I am in the back of the elevator, they are in the front. We’re all getting off at the same place.
PLEASE don’t hold the elevator door and make me go out first! I’m all the way in the back, it’ll just make us all later. Those closest to the door go out first, then those in the back. That’s the only logical way to exit the device.
That old “courtesy” does nothing but inconvenience everyone.
My BFF has a “sorry” verbal tic that drives me up the wall.
She prefaces virtually anything that could possibly be construed as asking about something, reporting about something, and so on with “I’m sorry.” It’s not polite, it’s self-demeaning and costs her authority in the workplace (especially because she’s a chick – women, don’t give your power away!!)
Someone quite close to me says “thank you” about every three minutes for things I am doing. If it’s bringing a coffee warmup or some printing from the office, it’s fine. When it’s a three-day project and I am thanked more than a dozen times a day, I get more and more uncomfortable and run out of meaningful things to say in return.
We’ve fought about it for years. I can’t get across that one sincere thanks when I finish something, or some major step, is more than adequate. But I’m an asshole for being rude about something as benign and positive as a “thank you” - even if they are delivered by the truckload.
Not quite impolite, but crazy-making and inspired by the “Minnesota food nice” upthread.
Our department is mostly women and there is stupid-ass ritualistic commentary on every single piece of food consumed in the whole damn place. A practically microscopic cookie crumb falls on the floor and everyone laments how good it looks, but “they really shouldn’t.”
“Ooooh, those muffins look soooo good, but I’m being good today.” Shut up, I don’t care what you choose to stuff or not stuff down your gullet.
“This kale 'n goat hoof salad only has 17 calories!” Shut up while I enjoy my tacos.
“If we eat these cookies fast, they won’t have any calories, hee hee!” Just STFU.
Always said by someone size 4: “I’m soooo fat, look how tight this skirt is!” Y’know what? I’m a big girl, I eat what I want, and I really like myself and how I look. Are you expecting me to lament that my size 16 self is soooo fat? 'Cuz guess what, I WON’T.
All of this I find terribly impolite and offensive, especially because we teach young men and women that it’s the life of the mind that counts, not the body container.
Just shut up.
It is not polite when people automatically say “Happy Mother’s Day!!” to me, just because I am female. :mad:
I don’t have any children, but thank you for reminding me that my own mother is dead. I feel much better. 
Ceding the right-of-way, unquestionably. But I’ve always been baffled by the insistence on “you’re welcome,” and anyone who takes offense at my congratulating them for getting engaged or married can fuck right the hell off.
“Take a look in the mirror sweetie. Congratulations are so definitely in order.”
With that attitude you will have few opportunities to socialize with people who would wish to share good information about their personal lives with you. And, you’ll differently not have to worry about being invited to many weddings.
So, no downside?
I’m thinking of a scenario when a person is a guest of someone else, and all questions about “what would you like to do?” or “what would you like to eat?” are answered with
“anything is fine with me, really!” I’m sure a lot of the time it is genuinely intended to be easy-going and flexible … but it would actually help the host if the guest could provide some guidance, just to get things going. Even if you would literally be willing to eat absolutely any type of cuisine, it’s a help to offer up “how about pizza, Thai, or Mexican?” so that the host can say “there is a wonderful Thai place down the street, let’s head there!”
The point of having a conversation about it is to arrive at a decision, and “anything is fine” is not contributing to that goal.
I have to admit I’m guilty of this, even though I’m complaining about it:
I hate when I’m wearing a cast, a brace, a big bandage, anything that indicates I’ve recently injured myself- and I hear dozens upon dozens of times “Ohhhh, what happened to your hand???” I get so sick of explaining the injury, no matter what it is. It’s the worst when the injury happened in some roundabout or indirect way.
Sure, it’s polite to show concern over someone’s injury, but talking about it over and over gets so tedious.
Of course I forget how much I hate this when I see someone else with an injury and I immediately go “Yikes! What happened to your arm??”
Methinks you’re overanalyzing this a bit. I’ll bet dollars to doughnuts you wouldn’t give a second thought to a sweet little old lady responding to a “thank you” with “Why of course dear, it was no trouble at all.” Think about it for a moment and you’ll see that “no problem” is just a short variant on that.
And be careful around Australians. A few “no worries, mate” might leave you a nervous wreck wondering what you could be worrying about. 
It does get tedious. Problem is that asking what happened is such a conventionally accepted expression of concern that if someone doesn’t ask about it, it would also be upsetting, as it would indicate that the person doesn’t care what happened to you. Assuming it’s someone close to you, of course - this would not apply to random strangers.
You think that’s bad. I hear tale when he was 4 he told his mom that he loved her. She, rightly, hasn’t spoken to him since and eventually kicked him out of the house when he was 5. Serves him right it does.
Ugh, tell me about it. And this whole breathing thing? All day every day? WTF? Just kill me now.