What Makes Southern Manners Pecuhar?rnby Ward S.AllenrnSoutherners live in the 18th century.” This commonrncharge is not altogether false, since the peculiar hahits,rncustoms, and meanings of words found often in the AmericanrnSouth are found also in 18th-century English authors. MostrnEnglish-speaking people use the word “manners” now only inrnthe senses designated by the Oxford English Dictionary as current:rn”FJxternal behaviour in social intercourse” or “Polite behaviourrnor deportment; habits indicative of good breeding.”rnBut the oldest meaning for “manners,” which has also had thernlongest continual use, is now marked obsolete. The first citationrnin the OED for this meaning is dated 1225; the last citationrnis dated 1794. The next to last citation, dated 1757, comes fromrnSamuel Johnson. This obsolete meaning is: “A person’s habitualrnbehaviour or conduct, esp. in reference to its moral aspect,rnmoral character.”rnThose who think of manners in this sense are 200 years behindrnthe times. But the mode of thought that connects moralrncharacter to manners had been accepted for over 2,000 yearsrnwhen it fell out of use among English-speaking people. ThernGreek word ethos and the Latin word mores join behavior, character,rnand morals into a general notion. This general notion isrnthe source for the concept expressed in the English word “manners,”rn”which early became the recognized translahon of L.rnmodus and mos, and its sense development has been affected byrna.ssimilation to both these words” (OED). So, Southerners whorneonhnue to hold this concept are not merely 200 years behindrnthe times: Since this notion is central to the thought of Platornand Aristorie, Southerners are 2,500 years behind the times.rnThe Greek word ethos is translated as “manners” in the KingrnWard S. Allen is the Hargis Professor ofEngUsh (emeritus) atrnAuburn University in Auburn, Alabama.rnJames Version of the Bible, which has had a conspicuous influencernon the civilization of the Bible Belt. The prologue to Ecclesiastieusrnstates that the book is for “them also, which in arnstrange country are willing to learn, being prepared before inrnmanners [ethos] to live after the law.” St. Paul (quotingrnMenander) warned the Gorinthians that “evil communicationsrncorrupt good manners” (1 Corinthians 15:33).rnIn the late 18th century, Edward Gibbon uses “manners”rnthroughout his history in the older sense. That this use becamernobsolete just at the moment when Gibbon and Samuel Johnsonrnwere using the word in this sense is puzzling, because theserntwo men are among England’s best prose stylists. With the lossrnof the word, the concept is lost. In his Life of Samuel JohnsonrnL.L.D., Boswell had maintained thatrnthe genteelest characters are often the most immoral.rnDoes not Lord Chesterfield give precepts for imitingrnwickedness and the graces? A man, indeed, is not genteelrnwhen he gets drunk; but most vices mav be committedrnver}’ genteely; a man may debauch his friend’s wife genteely;rnhe may cheat at cards genteely.rnStanding firmly for the union of morals and manners. Dr.rnJohnson answered: “You are meaning two different things. Onernmeans exteriour grace; the other honour. It is certain that arnman may be very immoral with exteriour grace.” The currentrnand common word for exterior grace is etiquette, which LordrnChesterfield introduced into English in 1750. The rules of etiquetternare tickets to “polite society,” a phrase from the definitionrnoietiquette in the OED.rnManners and honor having been torn asunder, the traditionalrnidea of a “gentleman” became obsolete. But Southernersrn18/CHRONICLESrnrnrn