Tell us something.: A long time chatty Chiffer but have been absent for almost two decades. Returned in 2022 and still recognize some names! I also play anglo concertina now.
avanutria wrote:"Yours faithfully" is a British term that I've never used in America. I would go with "Sincerely"
You should only use sincerely if you know the person you're writing to.
Why? Sincerely is what they taught in my eighth grade class.
I've always thought all these sincerely - faithfully - truly things were a bit over the top anyway, but I've never heard of a signoff varying by how well you know the person. Except for "love", of course. I wouldn't recommend using that in this case.
In the UK we are taught that letters addressed to someone by name are to be signed "Yours sincerely" and letters addressed generally (as in "dear sir") are to be signed "Yours faithfully". You are not expected to be sincere in business, but you do have to keep faith.
If yez don't do that in the States then we have to conclude that you may exude sincerity with everyone but be utterly faithless.
The Gregg Reference Manual states that a business letter to one person (name and gender unknown) should be addressed "Dear Sir or Madam" or "Dear Madam or Sir."
Closings in common use: "Sincerely," "Cordially," "Sincerely yours," or "Cordially yours." Very truly your or respectfully yours are infrequently used these days.
Dunno, I just follow the rules I didn't write them.
A lot people these days are signing off with Kind Regards, guess it's because they use that in less formal emails and get used to it. I'd only use this in an email within my own organisation or to a customer I had regular correspondence with.
I would have my name and address, the recipients title and address, and no salutation, go straight to the body of the letter. If I felt absolutely required to put in a salutation, it would be along the lines of To the Chair of the Whatever Committee: or I'm also comfy with Dear Sir or Madam.
If the paperwork you have says 'chair' I would use that phrase. If it says 'chairperson'. . .etc
Personal opinion. I eschew 'dear' and 'sincerely' if I don't have personal knowledge of the individual. I might use 'Yours' but probably not.
Remember, you didn't get the tiger so it would do what you wanted. You got the tiger to see what it wanted to do. -- Colin McEnroe
It's clear that conventions for closings differ between the U.S. and U.K. "Sincerely" is very standard for a business letter here, regardless of whether one knows the recipient.
For some reason, when I've seen people format an email as if it were a
business letter, they always seem to sign it "Best Regards". I thought it
was a European thing (the first time I saw it was from tech support in
Sweden), but I've seen it from all and sundry of late.
You'll regard him as utterly outdated, but this is the stuff I learned.
LETTER FORMS.
Of the usual forms preceding the signature some are better suited than others to certain correspondents or occasions. The distinctions here offered are tentative, but may be useful. "I am, Sir," &c., or "Believe me (to be)", or "I remain" used to precede most of the following forms, but they are now more often omitted. Your obedient servant, or Your obediently From or to officials; letters to the Editor in newspapers. Yours respectfully or (old-fashioned) Yours to command: Servant to master, &c. Faithfully:To newspaper (affected). Yours &c. : To newspaper (now common). Yours Faithfully: To unknown person on business. Yours truly: To slight acquaintance. Yours very Truly: Ceremonious but cordial. Yours sincerely: In invitations & friendly but not intimate letters. Yours ever, or Ever Yours, or Yours: Unceremonious between intimates. Yours affectionately: Between relations &c.
Tell us something.: A long time chatty Chiffer but have been absent for almost two decades. Returned in 2022 and still recognize some names! I also play anglo concertina now.
Yet another UK/US difference for me to get tripped up by. I've been using sincerely in all my work-related letters for two years. But no one's complained, and I still have a job, and get replies to the letters, so I guess it's OK.
