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

[joandarck]

Personally, when someone addresses me just by name with no salutation, I'm terrified. If it's in a work context, that is. In a work context I would expect the accompanying message to be something like, "Joan, we need to talk about your performance lately." "Joan, that dress is not appropriate for this office." In a social context, it still throws me, but one can generally tell that the person doesn't mean anything hostile by it, so I'm able to shake off the effects pretty quickly.

I do wish that the use of first names wasn't prevalent in business, though. I have no desire to address my bosses or my customers by their first names -- I think it's rude and not reflective of the actual power relationship, and I'd actually prefer it if I were allowed to call them Mr. or Ms. -- and I wish they wouldn't use mine -- what are we, personal friends? But that's not the culture anymore.

[bluebrocade]

My reaction to a name w/o salutation is similar. I always thing the person's mad at me. It just seems like if you're going to the trouble of not using a standard friendly salutation, then you must have a reason for it.

[zebra363]

Well, this is interesting for me to know. The greetings that set my teeth on edge are in fact often necessary to create the right tone.

I'd feel very odd calling anyone I'd met by anything other than their first name - it'd feel too subservient to me, whatever the power difference. And I do consider most of my workmates, and certainly my boss, personal friends to a fairly significant extent. If I don't, I find another job (or try to get rid of them as a client if I work for them privately).

[joandarck]

The greetings that set my teeth on edge are in fact often necessary to create the right tone.

It's unfortunate that these things vary so much from person to person, isn't it? Something so instinctive. One big problem in my relationship with my ex was that the thing my voice does when I'm excited -- trying to get your attention in a hurry, making a joke, that kind of thing -- sounded to him like I was really upset and/or angry. Even after we talked it out and established that it was just a cultural misunderstanding, he was absolutely unable to hear it any differently, and it ruined many a day for us. At least with email, there's a little more time to calm down and process and think, "What did this person actually mean to convey?"

And I do consider most of my workmates, and certainly my boss, personal friends to a fairly significant extent.

Wow, nice! You're a lucky person.

If I don't, I find another job (or try to get rid of them as a client if I work for them privately).I take that back about the luck, then -- you're making

[bluebrocade]

I have such angst over what salutation to use! I don't feel comfortable using someone's first name unless I know them. But I also won't write "Ms." or "Mr." xxx because it's just too formal where I work, plus I don't like how it automatically puts me in a subservient position. So, I usually just start with "Hello,". If I know the person at all, I write "Hi x,".

I have a totally different reaction than you to emails with just my name and no "hi" or "hello". I hate it. To me it reads like the author is pissed at me and is purposely being unfriendly and abrupt in order to let me know.

[zebra363]

I'm naturally unfriendly and abrupt, I don't have to do it purposely! :)

This has been very interesting. I'm thinking the safest course is to stop using email!!

[kbpenguin]

I am fussy about correct syntax (not sure if it's a result of being an editor or just a sign that I was meant to be one *g*), so I wouldn't use "Hi Zebra" because the greeting needs a comma after it.

I use "Hi, Zebra--" as the salutation and "--kbpenguin" as the closing for casual messages with people I know moderately well. If it's a slightly more important/serious note, or if I'd been emailing the person a lot at the time, I'd probably use drop the "Hi" -- like I probably wouldn't say "Hi" the second time I stopped by your office or saw you in the coffee room.

Close friends and family are unlikely to get a greeting or a closing, unless it's a special occasion or I haven't been in touch for a while.

Most correspondence with people I don't know at all is in response to theirs, in which case I will generally follow their lead. If I'm starting the conversation, it depends on context/tone, but I'm likely to use

Equus,

blah blah

Regards,
Eudyptula

(If that seems too informal, I'd use "Ms. Burchelli" and would

[zebra363]

What's the grammatical correctness of the hypens? I was interested to learn from kremmen above that a full stop after "Hi, Zebra" is technically correct.

I'd use the person's name, and Regards, exactly as you have it in your example for most email I initiate with people I don't know, and also at work with nearly everybody.

(Cannot figure out Eudyptula minor!)

[kbpenguin]

Yep, "Hi, Zebra." is a sentence and can be punctuated like that. "Hi, Zebra!" is also correct.

The hyphens are actually an emdash in this case and are used to indicate a break that's somewhat "softer" than a full stop. In straight text, they're often used--as I'm doing now--in much the way one would use parentheses. They can also be to show some link between independent clauses as in this sentence--gotta love self-referential examples :-). In correspondence, they're sometimes used at the end of the greeting and the beginning of the signature. To be honest, I'm not sure how grammatical it is, but it makes me think of someone sitting down with a quill pen and "dashing off a note" to someone.

Eudyptula minor is a Little (Blue) Penguin, which seemed the appropriate correspondent to the Equus burchelli. (Yes, editors can be silly)

[kbpenguin]

Oh, and I tend not to use the "Hi, Zebra." form in email because it does appear to be abrupt, and I think the emdashes look a little friendlier.

[juffles]

I read your entire peeve thinking "...even your BOSS calls you Zebra?" *smacks head* :)

[zebra363]

Fortunately, no. But pseudonyms in email are a whole different peeve and one I try not to let bother me!

[shayheyred]

Don't know well and it's work related? "Dear Ms. Smith."
Don't know well and it's not work related? "Dear Ms. Smith" or "Dear Jane."

[zebra363]

I stopped using "Dear" because I thought it was generally considered wrong in email, that it was reserved for letters. However, a number of the sites I looked up last night recommended addressing email exactly as you would if you were writing a letter.

I definitely would much rather get a Dear Zebra than a Hi Zebra from someone I don't know well!