In a section of my textbook I recently covered, I came across 3 vocabulary words that are very similar and I'm not sure how and when to use each.
From what I understand:
- 礼仪: protocol/etiquette. The dictionary I have doesn't give too many examples of this.
- 惯例: convention; usual practice. Ex:
按照国际惯例;
打破惯例 - break from usual practice/convention
- 规矩: this one is probably the trickiest of the three because there are two definitions: (a) rules of a community or organization; custom; established practice. (b) customary rules of good behavior; social etiquette (which translates to something similar to 礼仪)
example of (a): 按照中国规矩,写信时日期写在最后
example of (b):
(i) 遵守规矩;
(ii) 这个孩子没有规矩 (this child has bad manners; which seems to mean 礼貌)
So I'm still confused, because they all seem to mean the same: (to follow) some sort of standard etiquette