If you want to tell off your 'rude' in-laws, Harvard-trained etiquette expert suggests you do this

'The greatest power is showing that the other person doesn’t have power over you,' Harvard-trained etiquette expert Sara Jane Ho said. (Representational image: Unsplash)

Sara Jane Ho, a Harvard-trained etiquette expert, has a suggestion for every person who wants to tell off their in-laws for being rude or if they make any passive-aggressive remark about you: “just agree and play along.” “Be very smiley.”

Ho -- the founder of the finishing school Institute Sarita, host of the Netflix show “Mind Your Manners,” and author of an upcoming book, also called “Mind Your Manners” -- also recommends you “be very smiley” when dealing with such relatives.

No matter how rude your partner's parents are, it’s not your job to reprimand them, Ho told CNBC Make It. "It’s your partner’s job."

“If you want to piss off your in-laws, let your spouse do it, not you,” she added. Be agreeable and let your spouse do the “dirty work” of explaining to their parents why certain comments are inappropriate, Ho told the publication, adding that the same rule applies when your parents say something that makes your partner uncomfortable.

“You need to take care of your parents and they need to take care of their parents,” Ho said.

But, in case smiling does not make sense in the situation, she suggested just being silent.

“Oftentimes, I feel like when people are being rude the best thing is to just not say anything,” the Harvard-trained expert told CNBC Make It. “Let everyone wallow, and let them wallow in their misbehaviour.... The greatest power is showing that the other person doesn’t have power over you."

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