'I have a go-to question when meeting someone new. Turns out it's the rudest thing you can ask.'

One thing about me is I always put my foot in it.

Not intentionally, of course. It's mostly due to crippling social anxiety.

Anxiety that leaves me analysing every single interaction with another person, even though they most definitely forgot about it instantly.

It's why I have a love-hate relationship with the holiday season. Sure, the end-of year-events are fun, but they come with a lot of social interaction and, grimaces, small talk.

So when a conversation about holiday social etiquette came up on Mamamia Out Loud, I prepared myself to have inadvertently broken every. single. rule.

Watch: 5 etiquette rules for the social season. Post continues after video.

On the podcast, hosts Em Vernem, Jessie Stephens and Holly Wainwright, discussed a Substack article by Hanna Park called "modern day social etiquette you should live and die by."

According to Park, when it comes to social etiquette, it's important to "understand the difference between nice questions versus nosy questions."

Yes please let's ban the "why did you two break up?" interrogation or "why are you so quiet?" humiliation ritual. Consider me firmly on board.

As it turns out, these were not the questions Park was referring to.

According to the author, the rudest question to ask in a social setting is: "what do you do for work?"

Considering this is usually my go-to question when meeting a stranger, I'm going to be spending this holiday season writing many apology letters.

But, Park argued, if you ask this question: "You're either the most boring person in the world OR sizing someone up to be a better conversationalist."

Considering I can barely get through a social interaction without stuttering, I'm going to assume I'm boring.

I hear what she's saying, though. The question itself lacks creativity, and is a sure-fire way to fall into a small talk trap.

Speaking about this on Mamamia Out Loud, Holly said her tolerance for small talk has shrunk over the years.

Listen to the full episode below. Post continues below.

The host referenced an article from The Guardian by Claire Eastham, who gave up small talk for a month. Instead, the writer asked creative questions like "What's your star sign?" Or "What was your art teacher at school like?"

"My rules were simple: without being rude, I would quickly deflect all questions about well-being, weather, transport or children's academic achievements and offer instead something I found genuinely interesting," Eastham wrote.

The results, she said, were "astonishing."

While some people were sceptical of Eastham's intensity, most were "willing to play along" and even "seemed relieved" they weren't stuck in another monotonous conversation.

"Instead of stiff exchanges, conversations became unpredictable and, more importantly, real," she said.

Jessie, however, suggested it's important not to "force" a connection from the get-go.

"You don't want to sound like you're prying, which I guess is the point about being nosy," she said on the podcast.

"There are some people who are going into this [holiday] season with things they really don't want to talk about… bruises they don't want pressed."

The hosts also shared some of Parks' other etiquette tips for the holiday season, including: always pouring someone else's drink before your own; not licking your fingers after eating; and, my personal favourite, not jumping on your phone while someone else is talking (for any family members reading, that includes your iPad!).

Another one that stood out to me was "if you find yourself in an interaction where someone is cleaning, join them in cleaning."

As it gives anxious minds something else to focus on in social settings.

The final piece of etiquette advice, that you should always give someone a gift receipt, was called into question by Holly.

"I think it's rude to give a gift receipt because it says, 'I bought you this thing, but you might hate it.' I think we should be assuming that you're gonna like it," she said on the podcast.

"Part of giving a gift is that it's supposed to be somebody else's vision of you. You've gone to the trouble of choosing a thing for a person, I think it's a bit transactional to always be like, 'Or, you could just have the one hundred dollars.' In an ideal world, that person should at least pretend that they like it."

Consider me armed and prepped for the festive season, and the "rudest question" has been officially scrapped from my repertoire.

Feature Image: Supplied.