DEAR MISS MANNERS: I have posed this question twice, and realize that you don’t want to answer. Would you mind telling me why women and children loudly say “mwah” when they kiss a person on the cheek? It is only done in this country and is a relatively new custom.

Also, since when do men insist on kissing women on the cheek instead of shaking their hand? It is done by both young and old men. I really would appreciate an answer.

GENTLE READER: Yes, yes, Miss Manners wants to answer. But this is not an emergency hotline, you know. It is true that she can spout any etiquette rule instantly, but there are situations where she thinks things over, as rare as that is in this Twitter-y age.

What has her musing is why she rather likes the “mwah” sound (and whether it shouldn’t be spelled “maaaaa”).

Cheek kissing itself, as an ordinary greeting, is relatively new in the United States, and not limited to males. If anything, they do less, as they tend not to kiss one another. And the rule, which nobody remembers, is that ladies are supposed to initiate the form of greeting, so it is their choice.

Back to the soundtrack: As this sound is made with the mouth open, it cannot be managed while the lips are planted on a cheek. Therefore, it goes with the so-called air-kiss, delivered just beside the face, rather than on it. To Miss Manners’ mind, that is a good substitute for the touch-kiss that not everyone welcomes from acquaintances.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: Is it traditional for the future bride to pick her friends as bridesmaids, or can the future groom suggest a family member?

GENTLE READER: Traditionally, it is the bride’s choice. But while it may not be traditional for her to take into consideration the bridegroom’s wishes, Miss Manners considers it a really good idea.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: My daughter-in-law bought me a designer purse for Christmas. I really do not like it and will never use it. It is not anything close to my style, and I know she paid a great amount of money for it.

How can I get rid of this thing without hurting her feelings? I am just sick about this, as I do not want to hurt her -- but on the other hand, I would be ill myself trying to use this monstrosity.

GENTLE READER: How often do you see your daughter-in-law? And how will you dispose of the bag when you decide, as you are on the verge of doing, that the pain of wearing it is stronger than any pain you might cause her?

Miss Manners would like to spare both of you. The only sacrifice she asks is that you keep it for a while, although that would preclude returning it to the store. This is so that if your daughter-in-law mentions it, you can produce it and say that you are saving it for a special occasion. That the occasion is enough time having passed for you to sell it or give it away need not be mentioned.

(Please send your questions to Miss Manners at her website, www.missmanners.com; to her email, dearmissmanners@gmail.com; or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.)

DEAR MISS MANNERS: When my husband travels for business, he sees nothing wrong with going to happy hour or dinner, including alcoholic drinks, with single female colleagues. And picking them up from the train station, airport, etc., and texting them with emoji -- mostly regarding work, but sometimes not. He says these colleagues are just “someone to hang with after work.”

This has always made me feel very uncomfortable. Am I wrong to feel this way? Please help resolve this dispute. We’ve been married for 32 years with three grown children. We have a good marriage, and thankfully are still in love.

GENTLE READER: And yet you haven’t built up any trust? If you go to a male dentist, is your husband worried that you will start kissing as soon as your mouth is no longer numb?

Miss Manners suggests that you take a look at the workaday world. Whether or not you are in it, you must see that it contains all genders. You might also have heard that although cordial working relationships are encouraged, people who don’t know when to stop are apt to run into terrible professional trouble. Men who are fearful of false accusations -- and Miss Manners has heard from many of them -- should not shun their female colleagues, which has professional consequences for all, but provide their own chaperones.

The way to resolve your dispute is to apologize for your lack of trust, and to stop trying to make a fool of him for being the person who is forbidden to mix with his colleagues on business trips.

Unless he is a proven philanderer. In that case, you would best keep him under lock and key, because temptation is everywhere.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I have a very smart niece and nephew who live out of state. I try to send them gifts that they would like. This year, I sent them a message on social media that I would be sending them gifts via a courier service, and that they should watch for them.

Needless to say, I never received an acknowledgment or thank-you for the message or gifts. I don’t know if they received the gifts or not. Is there a way to convey to them that although I love them and enjoy sending them gifts, I find their silence very rude and disrespectful?

GENTLE READER: What is it that you enjoy about sending presents to people who won’t even acknowledge them?

This is the era of feedback, as your niece and nephew are surely aware. It is impossible to go to the drugstore for an aspirin without then receiving an email asking how you enjoyed the experience. So your relatives have no excuse for withholding feedback from you.

If you don’t want to accept silence as negative feedback and stop throwing good presents after badly received ones, Miss Manners suggests that you mimic a typical commercial plea: “Your feedback is important to me. Please take a minute to let me know if you enjoyed receiving that present.”

(Please send your questions to Miss Manners at her website, www.missmanners.com; to her email, dearmissmanners@gmail.com; or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.)

DEAR MISS MANNERS: What is the proper action when a guest accidentally breaks an item, other than apologizing and offering to replace it?

What does a guest do if the item is of great sentimental value, but of little or no monetary value? A replacement item will not have the same sentimental value as the original. How about if the item’s monetary value is higher than what the guest can afford? Or if the item is part of a set: Does the guest just buy a replacement for the broken item, or an entire new set? Will cash work (tacky, true, but the item may have been bought overseas and not available locally)?

What does a host do when presented with the replacement item? Is a simple “thank you” all that is needed?

These are not theoretical questions: I have broken a fine bone china mug out of a set of six mugs, each with a different design. My hostess did not inherit this set, but it is antique, and, like most everything in her house, there is a story about how and when she bought it.

I want to do the proper thing; I have apologized profusely and offered to replace it. She has laughed it off and said not to worry about it.

GENTLE READER: Clumsy guests should do the maximum amount of groveling -- and make reasonable attempts at replacing broken items -- without themselves becoming the nuisance. You do not wish to be a friend, Miss Manners warns, whom hosts are willing to chuck, if only to get you to stop harassing them.

Gracious hosts need only thank their destructive guests for their efforts and do their best to reassure them that for anything less valuable than a statue, it was old and they were looking to get rid of it anyway.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: Each Christmas, we host a party for friends and neighbors. This year, our neighbors brought along their adult daughter and her partner, who were visiting from out of state.

They arrived intoxicated and were very loud and obnoxious, making rude comments to other guests. Some of our invited guests left early as a result, as did her parents. We’re uncertain about how to address this problem without alienating our neighbors.

We certainly don’t want a repeat performance next year! What is the appropriate way to handle party guests who behave in a rude or disorderly manner?

GENTLE READER: When even their own parents give up on them and go home, it is a problem indeed.

Miss Manners suggests that next year, you enlist their help: “Your children seemed to have such a wonderful time at our party, but in our quiet neighborhood, we feel ill-equipped to keep up with them. Perhaps they would be happier with a livelier set.”

With unrelated misbehaving adults, you may say the same, omitting -- if heavily insinuating -- the part about being children.

(Please send your questions to Miss Manners at her website, www.missmanners.com; to her email, dearmissmanners@gmail.com; or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.)