What is the correct etiquette for drinking toasts after dinner?
Bill Lane, Tooting Depends on the occasion, the dinner and the toast. At a formal dinner, the chairman (toastmaster, vice-chairman) proposes the toast. “Gentlemen, Her Majesty the Queen”, say. After the loyal toast, it used to become acceptable to smoke. No longer. Other toasts may follow. You stand up, and murmur the name of the toastee, sotto voce, in the self-effacing Anglican way of making responses in church. On no account clink glasses; this is saloon-bar behaviour. And do not say “cheers”. Foreigners think that the British say “cheers” incontinently; this is not so. What can I do about my trousers? I wear braces with little snapper grips, but these continually break, or come unstuck. So I have to hold my trousers up. A.J.J., Cheltenham Old-fashioned braces with button-holes instead of clips still exist, but you have to get buttons on your trousers. These too can come unstuck. There is no security in trousers, or in life generally. Perhaps we should revert to the toga. What would
