Researching the history of daily greetings is challenging, because references are casual and scattered through many sources. Nonetheless, some broad trends are apparent. In eighteenth-century Britain, the old tradition of deep bowing and curtseying was slowly attenuating into a brisker touching of the cap or head (for men) and a quick bob (for women). Yet that transition was not the whole story. Simultaneously, a new form of urban greeting, in the form of the handshake, was emerging. The strengths and weaknesses of many different sources are here assessed, including novels, plays, letters, diaries, etiquette books, travelogues and legal depositions, as well as artwork. Strategies for analysis are identified, with a warning against generalizing from single references in single sources. Finally, the emergence of the handshake among the middle class in Britain's eighteenth-century towns gives a clear signal that socio-cultural change does not invariably start at the ‘top’ and ‘trickle down’.

研究日常问候的历史具有挑战性，因为参考资料是随意的，并且分散在许多来源中。尽管如此，一些广泛的趋势是显而易见的。在 18 世纪的英国，深深鞠躬和行屈膝礼的古老传统正在慢慢减弱为轻快地抚摸帽子或头部（男性）和快速的鲍勃（女性）。然而，这种转变并不是故事的全部。与此同时，一种新的城市问候形式，即握手形式，正在出现。这里评估了许多不同来源的优缺点，包括小说、戏剧、信件、日记、礼仪书籍、游记和法律证词以及艺术品。确定了分析策略，并警告不要从单一来源中的单一参考文献进行概括。最后，