Letter Closings

[Ondina]

Vaya con Dios! (Go with God!)

Salud!

 

Are you politely sending the addressee to not a very nice place? (Something like "get out of here. NOW" Or have they sneezed, in the second case? Or toasting to their health?

Is the the second world's most spoken language so we better know it.....

 

The correct closing in Spanish will vary greatly depending on to whom the letter is addressed to.

 

Formal: "Atentamente, " "Sin otro particular se despide de usted"...

Informal : " Hasta pronto", "Espero recibir noticias tuyas pronto."

Personal: "Un beso" "Un abrazo", etc.

Edited August 19, 2008 by Ondina

[BillTheEditor]

Vaya con Dios! (Go with God!)

Salud!

 

Are you politely sending the addressee to not a very nice place? (Something like "get out of here. NOW"

 

I'm an editor. You should see some of the stuff I get. This is a distinct possibility.

 

Or have they sneezed, in the second case? Or toasting to their health?

Probably not that they sneezed. But there's nothing wrong with wishing someone good health. The Romans used to close with "Vale" which is the same thing.

 

Is the the second world's most spoken language so we better know it.....

 

The correct closing in Spanish will vary greatly depending on to whom the letter is addressed to.

 

Formal: "Atentamente, " "Sin otro particular se despide de usted"...

Informal : " Hasta pronto", "Espero recibir noticias tuyas pronto."

Personal: "Un beso" "Un abrazo", etc.

 

Where I live (Texas) Spanish is pretty much tied with English. I do my best. Your "formal" closings are scrupulously correct. However, the original poster asked for alternative endings to the more formal ones, so I didn't list "Atentamente" etc. I did think about "Hasta pronto" -- don't know why I didn't list it, it's the kind of closing I'd use. "Espero recibir noticias tuyas pronto" might have been something I'd have written as a kid on a letter to a pen pal, but it seems, I don't know, kind of inappropriate for an old man to write.

 

"Un beso" y "Un abrazo" could only go to my wife, daughters, or grandchildren (all my old aunts are long dead, and I would be too if the wife caught me signing off a letter that way to anyone outside the family).

 

The other thing about Spanish is that from region to region and country to country, the same phrase can have different meanings. One has to be careful not to insult someone with a word or phrase that has a totally different connotation somewhere else.

Edited August 19, 2008 by BillTheEditor

[BBailey]

Someone once wrote to me with the closing, 'warm regards' and I liked that, but it has a feel for someone who is not close yet more than an acquaintance.

 

Bruce

[DeaconKC]

I've used "Your Loyal Minion," before in jest.....

[BillTheEditor]

I've used "Your Loyal Minion," before in jest.....

The Chief Yeoman on my last ship used to sign his memos "Y.ob.s." for "Your obedient servant" -- I think he was being sarcastic.

[bootyshox]

I usually don't write letters, but in school they made me. I once used "forever."

[Strang]

What about "Yours always," or "As ever,". I use both.

[hellkitty]

My nerdy Anglo-Saxonist friends normally use

 

wes thu hal

 

(the 'th' is normally the anglo-saxon character 'thorn' which I can't figure out how to get this thingie to get me to insert).

 

It means 'be strong!' which is, I believe, the same literal thing as the Roman 'Uale'.

 

A goofy friend of mine uses 'chow' (deliberate misspell of 'ciao') and inserts odd animals, like

 

'Rhinocerous chow!'

 

HK

 

 

 

 

[GreenVelvet]

LOVED the latin closings! Those I must remember. I've actually bookmarked the page!

 

I often use:

 

Ciao

Cheers

Be well

Walk in balance

From my pen to yours

Best

Warmly

A bientot

[Marsilius]

I often use

"Best wishes" or "warm regards" but alos like in principle those endings like "until then, I remain yours" but am too chicken to use it.

 

I also like the Dutch "grietjes" (sic) (informal "greetings", but said at the end)

 

I never mind someone writing "Be well."

 

Hasta lasagna,

Mars

 

 

 

[Mac in Alberta]

Sometimes, just to be obnoxious, I end writings with the Latin phrase "Quod Erat Demonstrandum." It translates literally to "that which was to be demonstrated", and is used at the end of formal mathematical proofs. It shows the math geek side of me.

I usually write "Best Regards" or "Sincerely."

To a fountain pen nut, Quot Erat Demonstrator might be a good closing.

[Maria]

Dear Nolagraph;

 

My personal favorite, to which I cannot use much; is the American Civil War written closing to their letters;

--Your obedient servant.....Then their is another closure; Your obedient servant &c.

 

With some of the friends I have, they will think I am volunteering for extra house work--theirs

 

But, the 'romantic' in me, I think in these documents of the Civil War, in which can be read online; under Official Records of the Rebellion; I just marvel at the civility of these letters, correspondences and such.

To them it would be as common as 'Sincerely.'

 

But, I am struck by the facts that Generals, like General Lee, General Grant and other Generals; would address a Colonel or such; as respectfully as would be expected by a more inferior rank to a General; as well as in closing, they are as respectful and use 'Your obedient servant' when writing to a Colonel or such.

 

Respectfully,

Maria

 

I love writing letters to my friends but I've grown quite weary of using such endings as "Sincerely" and "Always." Anyone have any better suggestions? What are your favorite "parting shots" to close friends or family?

 

[badlin]

I also like the Dutch "grietjes" (sic) (informal "greetings", but said at the end)

 

For what it's worth, the correct spelling in Dutch is "groetjes."

 

[donwinn]

At my previous job, I started ending letters and emails with

 

Here to serve,

 

Donnie Winn

 

I have continue to do so at my present employment, and on the rare occasions when I have opportunity to write an actual paper letter, I will use it also. Knowing I will put it at the end keeps my mind in proper perspective, and inspires me to carefully choose my words to not prevaricate with the ending.

 

Donnie

[MinasTirithScribe]

At work, I close emails to authors, reviewers, and journal editors with "Cordially yours," and to clients with "Best regards". To colleagues I'm apt to use "Onward and upward," especially if I'm congratulating a teammate on an accepted manuscript or announcing one of my own. "Cordially" was perennially used by a faculty member at my graduate school, and I picked it up as being simultaneously very professional and very personable. As a student I used "Respectfully yours" on formal occasions. The last time I used it professionally was in a job resignation letter in 2000. In my current job I'm at a medium-senior level such that I'd only be expected to write "Respectfully yours" to my boss's boss and only under unusually formal circumstances.

 

To family I'm apt to write "Love" and to my husband either "Love" or "Purrs". (We are a cat-owned and Felinophone [on the model of Anglophone or Francophone] household.) To members of my prayer group I write "Your sister in Christ" or "In Companionship" and to pen people "Scriptophilically yours."

 

To friends with whom I had handwritten correspondence in my student years, I got more adventurous with "Under the Mercy" (after C.S. Lewis and Sheldon Vanauken) or "Under the Simultaneity" (a recombination of the prior usage with Ursula K. Le Guin). Unfortunately, I've never yet encountered an occasion for which "Tan-Haruchail" was an appropriate closing.

[callida]

What a terrific thread!

 

I'm a bit confused about the use of "vale" though. As described on this thread, meaning something like "good health" or "go with strength", I think it's a fantastic closing - simple, interesting and just what I would want to convey to my friends.

 

However, the only context in which I've ever seen it used is in obituaries, which might commonly be titled something like "Vale John Smith". Very odd, if it can mean good health! Google tells me that "aeturnum vale" (farewell forever) is commonly used on tombstones, though this makes more sense to me because the meaning is obviously qualified by the "forever".

 

I wouldn't want my friends to think I'm wishing them something else altogether ...

 

I've never learnt Latin so I'm probably just confused. Or maybe it means something else in another language altogether (Italian? Another language I don't speak).

 

Is this use of the phrase common in other parts of the world? Or can anyone clarify?

Edited September 1, 2008 by callida

[Philip1209]

A good friend of mine always starts his letters with "Greetings" and ends with "De-Greetings." He is also know to watch way too many sci-fi movies. /Craig

 

Hey, that's a good one. For anyone who knows HTML, you could begin with [LETTER] and end with [/LETTER].

 

I love that idea! I'll have to use that with some of my more . . . "special" friends.

 

The closing of "pax" or "pax et bonum" seems very nice.

Edited September 2, 2008 by Philip1209

[discplayer]

I have used:

 

Ever your grateful servant,

 

Living in the Grin,

 

Esse Quam Videri,

 

Nili Nisi Cruce.

 

 

With a heightened sense of expectation,

Marvin

[ginigin]

Some great suggestions there ... should start the gray cells sparking. I often use Aloha - works to open or close a letter - or Aloha nui loa (hello/goodbye with love). If I'm feeling grateful or it's a thank you note, Mahalo means thanks. Others I've used: Love and Light, Peace and Light, Joyfully Yours, Blissfully Yours (or whatever mood you might be in). If I'm really silly, it's May the bluebird of happiness nest in your hair. I use Have a nice day way too much, so will enjoy trying on some new ones ... and maybe thinking up some more silly ones.

 

Metaphysically Yours, Gini

[BillTheEditor]

What a terrific thread!

 

I'm a bit confused about the use of "vale" though. As described on this thread, meaning something like "good health" or "go with strength", I think it's a fantastic closing - simple, interesting and just what I would want to convey to my friends.

 

However, the only context in which I've ever seen it used is in obituaries, which might commonly be titled something like "Vale John Smith". Very odd, if it can mean good health! Google tells me that "aeturnum vale" (farewell forever) is commonly used on tombstones, though this makes more sense to me because the meaning is obviously qualified by the "forever".

 

I wouldn't want my friends to think I'm wishing them something else altogether ...

 

I've never learnt Latin so I'm probably just confused. Or maybe it means something else in another language altogether (Italian? Another language I don't speak).

 

Is this use of the phrase common in other parts of the world? Or can anyone clarify?

 

"Vale" gets used in a variety of contexts, as you've noted. All of them are variations on the same thing. "Vale" simply means "Be well." It's an imperative -- in other words, an instruction or a command, not an option. And "farewell" = "fare well" -- same thing. Sometimes the old folks said "fare thee well." Sometimes "Vale" is translated as "Godspeed" but that's obviously only appropriate if the recipient is going somewhere.

 

I've always thought that "Vale" is where Mr. Spock's writers came up with "Live long and prosper." The sentiment is the same.

 

The word is Latin, so it shows up worldwide. I wouldn't say it's common.