re: Best Regards, Kind Regards, Yours Sincerely? page 7

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My company is going into new countries, everybody in the administration is taking an English course. During this course one teacher claimed that you should never, never use the greeting “Best regards”. Instead you should use “Yours sincerely” or “Kind regards”.

Well, when I went to business School in 1979 I only learned that you should only use the phrase "Yours faithfully,".

Reading this very long thread I think that one should conclude that if you know the person, you can use "Yours sincerely", and if you do not know the person, you should use "Yours faithfully".

Is this correct?

Someone wrote that you might capitalize the first letter in both words. What is the significance of that and what would it mean?

Yours faithfully,

Benny Bubel

More: Yours sincerely or Sincerely yours

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Comments  (Page 7) 
Hi,

It suggests to me at least some degree of romantic interest.

Clive
thank you, Clive
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What about ending a message with the word 'Peace'?

Peace,

Chuck
Hi,

It' OK. Just informal.

Clive
Wow! What an informative thread! I was unaware that they used "yours faithfully" in the UK, but then I don't get out much. It sounds so quaint to me.

Mr. P, I think it is in "Marjorie Morningstar" that the heroine copies out a letter she has just written to some man all over again on a fresh sheet of paper, just so she can sign it with the cool, breezy "Best," rather than whatever she had before. When I read that I'd never thought of "best" as a closing for a letter, and I'm embarrassed to admit I signed lots of letters that way for a while because I thought it seemed cool and breezy too Emotion: smile
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DelmobileWow! What an informative thread! I was unaware that they used "yours faithfully" in the UK, but then I don't get out much. It sounds so quaint to me.

You'd be surprised by how many BrEs would tut loudly over a "Yours faithfully" after a "Dear Tom/Dick/Tarquin", or a "Yours sincerely" after a "Dear sir".

But then, over here, a working day isn't quite complete without at least one chorus of tuts.
DelmobileMr. P, I think it is in "Marjorie Morningstar" that the heroine copies out a letter she has just written to some man all over again on a fresh sheet of paper, just so she can sign it with the cool, breezy "Best," rather than whatever she had before. When I read that I'd never thought of "best" as a closing for a letter, and I'm embarrassed to admit I signed lots of letters that way for a while because I thought it seemed cool and breezy too Emotion: smile

Breezy. Yes, that's it. Mysteriously breezy. That's what disconcerts...

MrP

You'd be surprised by how many BrEs would tut loudly over a "Yours faithfully" after a "Dear Tom/Dick/Tarquin", or a "Yours sincerely" after a "Dear sir".
Thanks, MrP-- I've been wondering about that.
What about APA style?

Best regards, [Spelling: use "regard" ("regards" are feelings of affection)]
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The expression "yours faithfully" isn't old fashioned. It applies to any letter where the recipient is unknown. Hence, if you begin with Dear Sir/Madam you end with Yours Faithfully. If you know the person in a formal context, or at least their name/sex, then you write Yours Sincerely or Sincerely. Ergo, if it is a letter to a lecturer, it would begin Dear Dr. Euripides and end Yours Sincerely. In cases where you are on a first name basis with the recipient, you can then use a more friendly context specific greeting: kind regards, best wishes, all the best, etc.

Fact.
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