Miss Manners: Announce coronation to few

DEAR MISS MANNERS: Would it be proper to send out announcements announcing the coronation of my daughter being crowned Campus Queen for 2010-2011?

GENTLE READER: Don’t the royal heralds do that by marching through the streets and sounding their trumpets to get the attention of the populace?

If they are not available, Miss Manners recommends your slipping a modest sentence into your conversation or correspondence with people who you have good reason to think would care.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: My girlfriend and I have been having a friendly dispute over whether elbows on the table while eating is considered socially acceptable. I claim they are, but she says they aren’t.

GENTLE READER: It is a rare pleasure for Miss Manners to be able to settle a friendly dispute by gratifying both contenders. Usually, someone loses, but here she can toss you a bone, as it were.

The lady is correct that elbows on the table during dinner is forbidden. As we used to say, “All joints on the table will be carved.” However, if you loll about the table after dinner, leaning forward on your elbows to enjoy conversation is not a crime.