Dear Miss Manners: Or should I say “Hi, Miss Manners!”?
Or spam. Miss Manners has noticed that spammers have adopted versions of “Dear one” as a salutation, sometimes ratcheting it up to “Beloved.”
They, too, seem to be interpreting it as ingratiating affection, rather than a neutral convention.
Miss Manners is not quite ready to let go of the conventional “Dear” salutation, and agrees with you that “Hi!” seems cheeky. But she is open to ideas if anyone can think of something simple and dignified.
The answer Miss Manners and her correspondent are looking for is "Good morning" (or "Good afternoon" or "Good evening").
It is simultaneously formal enough (you could totally say "Good morning" to the Queen) and informal enough (you could totally say it in any casual verbal conversation).
It doesn't have any connotations of affection, or of any emotion stronger than "polite greeting".
For some audiences, acknowledging the time of day can do the same general type of interpersonal work as "How was your weekend?"-type small talk, so it might add a soupçon of warmth to the interaction.
And, at the same time, it comes across as so utterly neutral that your correspondent is almost certainly not going to give it any thought, instead moving right on to the business of the email, which is what you want them to be doing in the first place!
1 comment:
Good day, Sgualdrina Sfacciata!
Ha! I just happened to be agonizing over a cover letter when the present post dropped into my feed reader! Serendipity! Thanks!
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