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Previous post: [ Outline for “they’re” (in 1916 Pre-Anniversary Gregg)? ]
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Dear Carlos,
Almost all my correspondence nowadays is via email, and I usually start it with “Hi” or “Hello” or even “Good morning”. I can’t remember the last time I used “Dear” (or that shorthand staple phrase “Dear sir”, d-s)
Fun little post!
Yes, it is. This article appeared in type in the March 1950 issue of The Gregg Writer. At first, I thought it was written in jest, but after doing a search, I found that this society was indeed real — it was founded in the late 40s by a gentleman (is that too formal?) by the name of E. Willis Jones in Chicago. Even Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine had an article about it (October 1947).
With the advent of e-mail, modern electronic business correspondence has “evolved” (or should I say “devolved”?) into a more informal style. The more formal styles are reserved for special or more important correspondence.
Perhaps the society was right and that starting just “Sir” (or the person’s name) would have saved one of every thousand typewriter ribbons! Though to my sensibilities it seems a bit abrupt. “Dear” is just a useful, meaningless way of starting — having to choose between other options is a waste of effort!.