Email Salutations

[zebra363]

I have a pet peeve about this, but am pretty sure I'm in a tiny minority and thought I'd check other people's opinions.  Pretend you're emailing three people called Jane.

Poll Email Salutations

Comments

[sarren]

I needed there to be check boxes, like for the last one, if I don't know them AT ALL or only through a very formal situation I would use "Dear Jane"

I would never just use the name unless I was very friendly with that person, or the other person was doing it first. Sounds too curt to me.

On the 'personal email to someone I know well' depends on what you mean. At work or if I'm cranky generally or just moving right along it'd be "hi Jane" If however it's one of my best buds it's liable to be something cutesy (though maybe not you because you wouldn't be impressed *g*)

[zebra363]

would never just use the name unless I was very friendly with that person, or the other person was doing it first. Sounds too curt to me.

Yes, I was afraid that might be the case for a lot of people. To me just the name sounds more polite and respectful than a Hi or even a Hello, which both strike me as too informal for written correspondence at work. It raises my hackles to get a "Hi" from our auditors, for example.

I don't think I've had a salutation from you in a long time!

[sarren]

Well, you and I don't bother, obviously when we're talking back and forth. Don't I even say hi if I'm emailing you the first time?

I always feel happy at work when you're emailing back and forth with someone and it gets to the point you can drop the superfluous salutations and signatures.

[true_enough]

Both at work and in person I tend to be more conservative when I greet someone but when I e-mail someone I know and like, I'll let it rip. I do try to be cognizant of how individuals appreciate or don't appreciate certain greetings but I'm sure I slip up more times than I mean to. The other day a tech I work with but don't know that well was looking for a lost sample for a test that's only set up once a week. I could tell she was distressed about it and so when I found the sample (where it was suppose to be, by the way) I thoughtlessly said, "Oh honey, it's right here." She gave me a startled look but she's also been friendlier since then. One of the few times my oops! made things better.

[zebra363]

Nice story (as is usual from you!).

These responses are making it clear that there's no single approach that pleases everybody!

[mcicioni]

When in doubt, I use "Dear Jane", which can be read as either friendly or formal. If I don't know the person at all, I address them as "Dear Mr/ Ms/ Dr + last name". I only use "Hi, Jane" with people I am on friendly terms with (and still prefer "Dear Jane"...). "Hello, Jane" sounds good in emails to co-workers, but I would use "Dear Mr/ Ms/ Dr/ Prof" to people much above me on hierarchical ladders. Maybe all these habits are due to my being a European-born baby boomer.

I strongly dislike receiving emails which just start with my first name, because I suspect that the sender doesn't think me worthy of "Dear", and because they sound curt and cold. I never use the recipient's bare first name.

[zebra363]

I don't use "Dear" because I've read that it isn't considered appropriate for email, only for paper correspondence. Not all of the sites I looked up tonight agreed with that, though.

I like the look and sound of just a name, with a comma afterwards. It's how I'd address people in person, so it doesn't seem cold to me. M, would you like white wine or red? S, we need you to prepare a new forecast. But maybe I need to rethink this, since there are probably a lot of people out there who find it too abrupt.

[kremmen]

I read "Hi, Zebra," as more conversational and a bit of a different animal to "Hi Zebra".

Speaking of peeves, the latter is just plain wrong. "Hi" is an interjection. The correct format for using such a critter is "Hi, Jane." So, when I clicked on the box that I did, what I really meant was "Hi, Jane.", because I don't use any of the grammatically incorrect versions.

I like variety, so I'll tend to use "G'day", "Greetings", etc, as substitutes for "Hi".

Most people take name alone to be very terse. It's the sort of thing a boss in a hurry does so I avoid it, unless I am writing to someone I know and am in a big hurry.

[zebra363]

I thought of putting comma and no-comma versions in the poll, but decided it would get long.

I only ever receive Hi, Zebra, salutations from people of decidedly superior literary ability!

This site I was just reading says:

The Gregg Reference Manual notes that a salutation such as Hi Marie technically requires a comma after the word Hi as well as Marie. However, it also points out that this is a very informal salutation, and that inserting a comma after the word Hi would be carrying grammatical correctness to an extreme.

I find no salutation at all terse, and names without commas following slightly terse, but plain names with commas perfectly conversational. Obviously a lot of people don't agree, so I might have to reconsider. I'd much rather be terse than overly familiar, though!

[kremmen]

I'd agree with this site that the Hi version is a sentence in its own right and gets a full stop at the end, but a second comma will do.

I don't really care if others leave the comma(s) out, but I don't think this is (in Australia, in email) "very" informal. Very informal is on the slippery slope to "does ne1 care" and "cya".

I like to be terse too, as much through laziness as anything else. Unfortunately, many people will take that as being unfriendly/uncooperative/etc.

[zebra363]

I didn't even realise we were discussing the punctuation after Jane, as well as after Hi! I see the point. However, it's not really used as a full sentence in this case, but rather as an opening. I'd find the full stop puts in an odd pause, and interpret it to mean that either bad news is following or the other person is only reluctantly participating in the conversation. Or I might just wonder why the person types out such a short sentence.

Reading these comments, I think the safest thing to do might be to stop using email!!

[malnpudl]

I'm with you. I use just the name followed by a comma for anyone I don't know well, and for anyone in a business context.

With friends, it varies, as I sometimes get whimsical, but they all know and expect that of me. Usually it's either "hi" or "hey" but sometimes I follow a flight of fancy. *g*

As far as pseudonyms in e-mail, that's a hard one in fannish circles where everybody knows me as Mal and almost no one knows me as Linda. I'm perfectly okay with either name, but I always sign myself "Mal" when e-mailing anyone I know through fandom because I figure that's how I'm known to them. But there are a few people who seem to prefer real names, so I have my half dozen or so exceptions to that practice.

[zebra363]

I'm glad there are a few other plain Jane, plus comma, people out there! This has been instructive - I had no idea how many people don't like to receive email addressed to just their name.

I find using pseudonyms in email the equivalent of going to the grocery store with a paper bag over your head! However, I know it's extremely common in fandom, so I try not to get too worked up over it (or I stick to LJ comments to avoid the issue).