Jellies over 40, (and under if you remember before the intranet age.) About correspondence.

Sincerely is what I use on my business and employment correspondence.

You’re recognizing a level of formality above most emails. It is a bit more but not all that unusual.

By the way, it’s internet, not intranet, unless you are speaking of an internal mail system at your workplace.

@Judi Hehehehe. Are those my only two options? I see more meaning or you’re a nut?
I close letters with words like sincerely as well but I go by the occasion as well. If you used a letter format with indentations and paragraphs, kudos to you.
If you then followed up with a letter or a nice card in the mail it would even seem more sincere.
That you felt sincere affection enough to make a gesture of communication is, perhaps, not unusual; the way you chose to express yourself may have marked you as more thoughtful than someone twenty years younger. That is a good thing.

Cheers!

Funny. I was just thinking on this. When writing a letter by hand, even a business letter, we always started with “Dear So and So.” For some reason, that just seems a weird way to start an email, even a friendly email. Why is that? Too slow? Wasted words? Too “familiar?” Why didn’t it seem like any of that when we wrote letters and sent them by snail mail?

@Tropical_Willie said it best:

Sincerely is what I use on my business and employment correspondence.

When I want to express affection – I say Love, or All my Love,

And I’m over 40. And write a lot.

I am surprised by the poor standard of writing in emails compared with letters. Emails are full of misspellings, bad grammar and poor punctuation to the point where communication breaks down. As technology becomes more advanced standards of literacy decline. Nd wht bt txtg? Compare that with the word ‘sincerely’ written in fountain pen on a piece of faded paper.

I use “sincerely” on things like cover letters, or other important/official correspondence.

I use “sincerely” on typed (printed) letters.

A “softer sounding” closing could be “Regards” or “Best regards.” I use “love” on personal letters and cards. It’s a good one, and I use it even when I don’t necessarily love the person.

Regards,
JCA

I use “sincerely” for business correspondence too. This time though seemed like I really meant, “my words have deep sincerity” and I realized that in most business correspondence it is just a polite greeting to end the letter.

I still begin much of my email correspondence with dear and end it with sincerely. For me, the Internet has not changed how I convey myself.

I’m right with you. I still use sincerely at times, and I pause when I do it, because I know it is rarely used now. I take a moment to make sure I feel it is the appropriate way to sign off, and almost always I go with it. I also use kind regards, regards, and a simple thank you, but sometimes my letter is said with great sincerity, and the other expressions don’t capture that.

I still write a lot of letters (in long-hand script) & mail them by ‘snail mail’ & I use Sincerely on my personal letters, Regards on my business letters, & Love on my letters to my grand children & family members. I also do a lot of email messages, but I do not generally use Sincerely on the email messages. I also send text messages to my friends & family members & to my grand children & I always tell them that I love them. I still write letters because I feel that it makes the person who receives the letter, feel valued.

@Linda_Owl: The nice thing about a hand-written letter or card is 1) having the writer’s hand writing, which is a personal thing and 2) having something permanent to put away and remember the person by in the future. With all that we correspond by email, we’ll have very little to save and remember the person with.

I just saw a TV show where someone sends an e-mail to another and signs it. The guy who receives it says “Who signs their e-mail?”

@flutherother I don’t know if illiteracy has climbed, or it’s at the same level it has always been at. Perhaps the only difference is people who would have shied away from writing before, because the couldn’t write, often have no other means of communication now.

“sincerely” and “sincerely yours” are such different critters. You could be writing “I want to see your head on a stick” or ”. . . you drawn and quartered” and quite appropriately sign it “sincerely” but “sincerely yours” is a somewhat formal way of closing with good wishes. However, it really does seem to call for a written sig instead of an electronic one.

@Dutchess_III That’s true. Illiteracy has been almost wiped out in the Western world, but now everyone can read and write respect for the written word has declined. People who text or email don’t stop and think about what they are writing. They don’t think that what they are writing is permanent like words on paper.

Something I have noticed…well, I teach adults. My students range from 18 to 60 (most of them are in their mid 20’s.) Without fail, my older students, 40+ have better writing skills than the younger. I had a student, he’s about 43, write up an outline. He didn’t have to ask for help, and he worked up a perfect outline. Something changed drastically in the teaching and or expectations of our children after 1990. I have a feeling it was the parents whining about “You’re making my baby work too hard. Don’t you know he has ADD/ADHD,” whatever.
I have one 18 year old student who CONSTANTLY reminds me that he has ADD, has trouble concentrating, uses that as an excuse to turn in crappy work. I just ignore his excuses and keep reassigning it until it’s done correctly. He has slowly, slowly started turning in better work, the first time around, and has backed off of his whining excuses.
We haven’t done our kids any favors in the last 20 years…and it ISN’T the teacher’s fault.

@Judi
I know what you mean though. When I write “sincerely” in personal correspondence, and I feel that I really mean it.

“Sincerely” seems very formal and business-like to me. I compose and write up to thirty business letters a day and nearly all of them end “Yours sincerely”. My family would think I’d gone nuts if I closed a letter or email to them that way. Business emails are closed with “Best regards”. When I write to my family I close with “Lots of love.”

In this rush, rush world, I don’t think people really appreciate all of the extra bells and whistles. For example, my banker emailed me, said, “Wanted to be sure that we are going restart the $300 debit on the Durango on the 21st.”
I sent back, “Yes.”
I mean…what else is there to say? Maybe “Thanks.”