# What is the most antiquated common custom we still use? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 1, 2014, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-antiquated-common-custom-we-still-use/703191 "2014-11-01T01:46:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2014, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-antiquated-common-custom-we-still-use/703191/41 "2014-11-02T18:46:52Z")
> [@MLS](#): > > The necktie is a decoration, like jewelry. Now, one could argue that decoration serves no purpose. > > However, the decorations we choose say something about us, and can be symbols of position, rank, and so on. The traditional business attire shows that the person considers a situation important enough to put on this particular “costume.” Agreed. Ties are also excellent in that they allow men in drab (black / grey / dark blue) suits a little splash of colour in their attire, to liven things up. Nothing wrong with that. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2014, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-antiquated-common-custom-we-still-use/703191/42 "2014-11-02T19:02:51Z")
> [@sunstone](#): > > I nominate the tie. Basically wrapping a bit of cloth around the neck, but for what purpose? > > I note with interest that many of us who are employed in the newer technologies no longer wear ties. That most conservative of all ventures, banking, still wear ties, but so do car salesmen and (usually) real estate salesmen, lawyers and politicians. Notice how in shows like Star Trek, all truly advanced civilizations have evolved beyond the use of the tie. Only harsh, totalitarian regimes make people wear ties. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2014, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-antiquated-common-custom-we-still-use/703191/43 "2014-11-02T20:55:50Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > I like the tie example. Ties serve no purpose. Unlike shirts or pants, they don’t provide warmth or cover up private body parts. They are uncomfortable and are only worn because that’s what we are supposed to do when dressing nicely. > [@clairobscur](#): > > This. The tie is most useless and uncomfortable piece of clothing there is. No. Not this. If you think your tie is uncomfortable it’s because you’re wearing a shirt that’s too tight around the neck. Here’s a tip: If you can’t easily slip two fingers between your collar and neck the shirt doesn’t fit. If the shirt fits, it will be nearly impossible to pull the tie too tight. If it doesn’t, it’s going to strangle you whether you wear a tie or not. ---
**Author:** ![dofe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ba0ec/32.png) [@dofe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dofe)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2014, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-antiquated-common-custom-we-still-use/703191/44 "2014-11-02T21:04:24Z")
> [@sunstone](#): > > I nominate the tie. Basically wrapping a bit of cloth around the neck, but for what purpose? > > I note with interest that many of us who are employed in the newer technologies no longer wear ties. That most conservative of all ventures, banking, still wear ties, but so do car salesmen and (usually) real estate salesmen, lawyers and politicians. The tech industry, however, is [not exactly](http://valleywag.gawker.com/why-are-tech-workers-so-bad-at-dressing-themselves-1613023344) the bastion of high fashion. Ties for men are no different than stockings and heels for women in a work environment – it just adds a level of sophistication and polish to how you look. I wouldn’t say it’s antiquated. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2014, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-antiquated-common-custom-we-still-use/703191/45 "2014-11-02T21:16:07Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > No. Not this. If you think your tie is uncomfortable it’s because you’re wearing a shirt that’s too tight around the neck. Here’s a tip: If you can’t easily slip two fingers between your collar and neck the shirt doesn’t fit. If the shirt fits, it will be nearly impossible to pull the tie too tight. If it doesn’t, it’s going to strangle you whether you wear a tie or not. I think men who really passionately hate ties actually hate to button the top button of their shirts. My husband is like this. He also has a lot of trouble tying a tie, because he’s left-handed, and no one taught him how to tie one when he was a kid. When he needs to wear a tie, I usually tie it for him. I was a Brownie long enough ago that the uniform still included a tie, and so when I was seven, my father taught me to tie a necktie. Also, I’ve noticed that men who wear suits every day have very personal tie collections. They have holiday ties, joke ties, flashy ties, subdued ties, and choose the right amount of self-expression according to what they have to do that day. Bank tellers can wear goofy ties on April first, but not public defenders, unless the PD isn’t going to be in court that day. Public school principals _should_ wear goofy ties, on every possible occasion. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2014, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-antiquated-common-custom-we-still-use/703191/46 "2014-11-02T21:32:50Z")
> [@Penfeather](#): > > Is this going to be one of those Straight Dope vs. Human Customs robot anthropologist threads again? “Explain _why_ you humans prefer garments beyond the strictly utilitarian. And why do you shake hands in a greeting ritual with humans you already know?”. Apparently it is. It’s also going to be the thread for “I don’t like this thing, therefore it’s objectively stupid” ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2014, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-antiquated-common-custom-we-still-use/703191/47 "2014-11-02T22:50:19Z")
I think the biggest entrenched custom in much of the world is driving on the right. Most people are right-handed, and if they drove on the left, they’d be able to keep their dominant hand on the wheel at all times. Comparing like for like, countries that drive on the left have far fewer accidents. People started drviing on the right when it was shown to make whipping easier for horse teamsters. Though this is no longer necessary, the huge costs and inevitable accidents would make switching back to the left irrational. ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2014, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-antiquated-common-custom-we-still-use/703191/48 "2014-11-02T23:07:52Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > Because it’s a custom like a handshake. Whether we choose to be patriotic by standing, sitting, or jumping up and down, it really doesn’t matter. In the OP I meant to refer to activities which are done for no benefit or for reasons unrelated to the act. > > Yes, the term “Dear” confers respect, (likewise with Sincerely yours at the end)but it really doesn’t mean what it says. I don’t have love or affection for Mr. Smith. My wife or girlfriend is called “dear” (when I know what’s good for me) but the 63 year old guy that I secretly hate is in no way dear to me. > > Likewise I am not sincerely “his.” I am in no way “his.” We use those words because we always have. > > I like the tie example. Ties serve no purpose. Unlike shirts or pants, they don’t provide warmth or cover up private body parts. They are uncomfortable and are only worn because that’s what we are supposed to do when dressing nicely. If you have to tie yourself into knots like this, isn’t it time to reconsider the premise of your OP? ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-antiquated-common-custom-we-still-use/703191/49 "2014-11-03T00:40:27Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > The [concept of the 60 minute hour](http://www.livescience.com/44964-why-60-minutes-in-an-hour.html) may be 4000 years old, and also establishes that once in a while something potentially worthwhile _does_ come out of Iraq. That link states that Sumerian used a hybrid base 12/base 60 system. Several other sources, [like this one](http://it.stlawu.edu/~dmelvill/mesomath/sumerian.html) imply that it used a hybrid base 10/base 60 (though other subbases, e.g. 6, were sometimes substituted for the 10). Any corroborating cite for the base 12? ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-antiquated-common-custom-we-still-use/703191/50 "2014-11-03T01:55:29Z")
> [@Namkcalb](#): > > I think the biggest entrenched custom in much of the world is driving on the right. > > Most people are right-handed, and if they drove on the left, they’d be able to keep their dominant hand on the wheel at all times. Exactly why can’t you keep your dominant hand on the wheel? I suspect you’re adjusting the radio too much. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-antiquated-common-custom-we-still-use/703191/51 "2014-11-03T02:00:52Z")
> [@Namkcalb](#): > > I think the biggest entrenched custom in much of the world is driving on the right. The world is very much divided on this subject: [http://www.worldstandards.eu/cars/list-of-left-driving-countries/](http://www.worldstandards.eu/cars/list-of-left-driving-countries/) ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-antiquated-common-custom-we-still-use/703191/52 "2014-11-03T12:39:07Z")
> [@Svejk\_1](#): > > If you have to tie yourself into knots like this, isn’t it time to reconsider the premise of your OP? Fair enough. A good rule is on the tip of my tongue, but I can’t think of it. What I am trying to gather is customs which don’t serve their straight-forward purpose. I want to keep out things like driving on the right of the road. Yes, we only do it because it is custom. Driving on the left is equally as good. But I want to exclude that because to accommodate two way vehicle traffic, one must keep to one side or the other. The same theory goes for a 60 minute hour or standing for the national anthem. As a previous poster points out, the same objection could be made for ties, which are at #1 on the list. The argument goes that we need a way of dress to show that we respect the event at hand and that it is important. A man wearing a tie fits that role. Now, in keeping consistent with my previous bitch, it could be substituted by wearing gloves, or a certain necklace or anything else to show respect, but wearing ties are just as good. I think the distinction could be drawn because it is not just as good. As people in the thread have pointed out, it is uncomfortable to millions of people who wear them just because, yet we continue to do it. I dunno, can I get some help reformulating the OP? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-antiquated-common-custom-we-still-use/703191/53 "2014-11-03T13:33:29Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > I dunno, can I get some help reformulating the OP? The phrase “antiquated custom” in the thread title suggests to me something that people _used_ to have a reason for doing, but it has outlived its reason: people still do it even though the reason why it would make sense to do so no longer applies. One example would be the custom of the bride being “given away” by her father at weddings. We no longer consider it an actual transfer of custody or responsibility over a woman from one man to another, yet the custom persists. ---
**Author:** ![Double\_Foolscap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85e7bf/32.png) [@Double\_Foolscap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Double_Foolscap)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-antiquated-common-custom-we-still-use/703191/54 "2014-11-03T13:40:13Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > Exactly why can’t you keep your dominant hand on the wheel? I suspect you’re adjusting the radio too much. Shifting gear. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-antiquated-common-custom-we-still-use/703191/55 "2014-11-03T14:02:20Z")
> [@Double\_Foolscap](#): > > Shifting gear. Ah, stick-shift. Now there’s an antiquated custom! :: d&r :: ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-antiquated-common-custom-we-still-use/703191/56 "2014-11-05T22:18:19Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > I would also nominate calling every old man “sir.” It’s a show of respect just because of his age. He might be a miserly, miserable old child molester, but we give him that title of respect, but a 30 year old decent man we don’t. I do. I was raised to call everyone by an honorific as it shows respect. I call every male or female that looks old enough to drive with Sir, Ma’am. Also being younger than 100 I remember being young myself and having an older person calling me a “Sir”\* and it made me feel more grown up and that I should act like a grown up instead of a damn fool child. \*First one was my 7th grade woodshop teacher Mr. Jackson. He called all the kids Sir or Ma’am or Mr./Ms. Lastname and treated us like adults and expected us to act like adults. That may have just been a practical measure so that we didn’t chase each other around with jigsaws. > [@PastTense](#): > > For men: Mr. > For women: Miss or Mrs. depending on whether or not they are married. > > While the Miss/Mrs. distinction is particularly antiquated the Mr. vs Miss/Mrs. distinction also is antiquated–why a need to make this distinction here? Why not just M. Jones (the person whose last name is Jones) and M. Smith (the person whose last name is Smith). Because if I get mail that just says, “M. Smurf” and I open it and it was for my wife I have now commited mail theft and could face jail time. No thank you. > [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Every morning before work I shave my face. It’s stupid, really. I don’t know why I do it, but I do it. Just stop. I did, 9 years ago. I’ve gotten several jobs with the beard. To me it seems employers just don’t like the scruffy period between clean shaven and sporting a beard because it looks messy and it gives people the impression that you are a lazy no good son of a bitch and that could be bad for business. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-antiquated-common-custom-we-still-use/703191/57 "2014-11-06T00:01:03Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![jayrey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/47e85d/32.png) [@jayrey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayrey)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-antiquated-common-custom-we-still-use/703191/58 "2014-11-06T00:13:49Z")
> [@sunstone](#): > > I nominate the tie. Basically wrapping a bit of cloth around the neck, but for what purpose? > > I note with interest that many of us who are employed in the newer technologies no longer wear ties. That most conservative of all ventures, banking, still wear ties, but so do car salesmen and (usually) real estate salesmen, lawyers and politicians. It’s interesting to me that the people who most often wear ties are the same ones we most often mistrust. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-antiquated-common-custom-we-still-use/703191/59 "2014-11-06T04:06:47Z")
As for “sir,” a Western lady have never _really_ been to Thailand until a local shopkeeper calls her “sir.” ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-antiquated-common-custom-we-still-use/703191/60 "2014-11-06T15:26:37Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > The world is very much divided on this subject: > [http://www.worldstandards.eu/cars/list-of-left-driving-countries/](http://www.worldstandards.eu/cars/list-of-left-driving-countries/) I don’t think your link shows what you think it does. To me, “pretty much divided” means like 50-50 each way. The reality is, most of the world drive the “proper” way. It’s just current and former UK peoples, plus a few outliers, that drive on the right. Even China drives on the left. But not Hong Kong. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-antiquated-common-custom-we-still-use/703191.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-antiquated-common-custom-we-still-use/703191.md?page=4)