It’s been the most popular way to greet someone since medieval times but now handshaking may be dying out.

Knights would extend their hands to each other to show they were not holding a weapon and to keep a potential assailant at arm’s length.

But it seems this tradition is being consigned to history. Research shows that fewer than half of young people shake hands.

Teens are more likely to bump fists because they think it is less formal. And the death of the handshake is not the only sign that traditional etiquette is changing...

DRESS CODES

Top hats used to be seen on all the best heads – now they seem to be reserved for stars such as Britney Spears during daft dance routines.

Apart from baseball caps, headgear only seems to be about keeping people warm. And you don’t see kids in caps tipping the brim at a passing lady or removing them when they enter a building.

Male office staff were always expected to wear a tie to work but a study shows that just 40% of UK companies still insist on formal dress in the office.

But most firms still doff their cap to tradition in some ways. Flip flops are banned by 83%, mini-skirts by 88% and men in shorts by 70%.

NOT WRITE

Letter-writing has become a dying art thanks mainly to emails and texts.

The number of letters we send has plummeted in recent years – and so, it seems, have our manners.

While six out of 10 adults still remember to send thank you notes to relatives for presents, just four out of 10 of their

children still do the same.

But that’s not the only tradition that is fading fast.

The number of virtual Christmas cards sent over the internet is growing by more than 250% a year. Though people say they are trying to save the planet as well as money.

DATING AND SEX

Forget about agonising over a love letter and squirting it with your favourite scent.

These days you’re more likely to receive a Facebook poke or an email alert from a dating website.

More than 60 per cent now believe it is easier to meet someone on a dating site than in a pub, club or through friends – according to a recent survey.

Traditional attitudes towards sex before marriage are also changing – with many more unmarried couples living together these days. Official statistics show half of babies will be born to unwed women by 2012.

And a survey shows the rules are changing for the couples who do decide to get hitched – just a third of the brides’ parents are now lumbered with the cost of the big day.