Hold the door for the person behind you. Say please and thank you. Chew with your mouth closed. Folkways are customary norms of everyday behavior. They are not morally charged like mores, and violating them does not bring severe punishment. You might get a dirty look. You might get a reputation for rudeness. But you will not go to jail.

William Graham Sumner introduced the term in 1906. He contrasted folkways with mores (strong moral norms) and laws (codified norms). Folkways grease the wheels of social interaction. They vary by culture: in some places, slurping soup is polite. In others, it is offensive.

Examples

• Shaking hands or bowing when greeting
• Wearing clothes in public
• Forming a queue for a bus
• Using utensils or chopsticks
• Covering your mouth when coughing

Folkways are not trivial. They make daily life predictable. When they break down, social interaction becomes awkward and inefficient. But they also change. What was once a folkway can become a law, or fade into memory.