This chapter moves to the next main step in the book's politeness evaluation model: whether the behaviour in the focal event is expected or not and whether or not the evaluation process is triggered. It explores the concept of norms and the expectations that they give rise to. The chapter argues that breaches in norms and expectations trigger the evaluation process and that there can be cultural differences in the norms and expectations that people hold, as well as in the strictness with which they are upheld. In addition, it is argued that participants’ normalcy thresholds can vary according to the characteristics of other interlocutors, including ingroup/outgroup membership, biculturality/multiculturality and the influence of affective factors. The chapter has four main sections: descriptive and injunctive (prescriptive/proscriptive) norms, expectations and expectancy violation theory, prescriptive/proscriptive norms and etiquette, normalcy zone and threshold.