Nip it! Nip it! Nip it! As you know Barney told Andy once to be firmer with Opie, because "All the experts are in favor of bud-nippin." My 16 year old daughter Ashley had to make a presentation about etiquette last night to her church youth group. While shopping in a local thrift store, her Mom noticed an old Emily Post etiquette book published in 1942, so she bought it for 80 cents. She was thinking it would be interesting to see how etiquette and customs have changed since then.
As Ashley thumbed through it, she noticed this quote in the chapter on "Table Manners": "Most children will behave badly at table . . . such as making a mess of their food, talking with their mouths full, . . . knocking spoons and forks together. Once graduated to the dining room, any such tactics must be nipped in the bud." So it looks like Barney was right. At least one expert from the years before the show was in favor of bud-nippin! Dexter Bell Centerville Utah
