'Modern etiquette rules should be less about which fork to use and more about when to put the phone down' says columnist Kathy Lette

A photo of columnist Kathy Lette is superimposed over a photo of a woman using her smartphone.

Do I really need to know the correct way to address a marquis or which fork to use for the fish? People who worry about using the wrong fork can fork off.

The matters that matter most in 2025 are more to do with mobile phone usage, as in, not talking to someone on it while a red-blooded, fully vocalising human is sitting right in front of you waiting for a real-life chinwag [that's called 'phubbing', by the way].

We clearly need an etiquette update...