At school, I was taught to use 'yours faithfully' where I was writing a formal letter to an unnamed person, and 'yours sincerely' whenever I was addressing a named person, formally or informally. 'Yours truly' was considered archaic.

Whilst YS and YF feel right to me for formal correspondence, I don't feel able to sign off a letter to my father or a friend with 'yours sincerely', which just feels too arch and stuffy. I have developed a small collection of less formal sign offs, but wondered what other people use.

How do you do it?

Ray

Something informal...

Just my name/Yours, *name*/Yours in friendship (I made this one up, but I think it's a nice touch at the end of a letter).

Something formal...

"Yours sincerely *name*"

I don't think I've ever used anything else...

For business correspondence, I've picked up "regards" or "best regards". For reasons I don't know, it's the standard at my company.
For personal correspondence, I've used "Yours truly" for as long as I can remember. Except my mom likes it when I use "Love," instead, so I try to remember to do that for her.

Hi,

As a non-native speaker, I have adopted some formulas I saw and I liked:

All the best,
Take care,
Hugs, teddybears and butterflies, (oh oh, this one is quite personal

All the best,

Alejandro

For a family member, "Love". For a friend, "Best Wishes" or I might let the last line of the letter say it all, such as "All the best to you and your family" or "Talk to you soon" or "My love to you and your family."

For formal correspondence either "Sincerely" or "Regards".

For informal "Sail Safe".

At work either "Respectfully" or "Very Respectfully".

For business, I used to use "Very truly yours," but it began to seem too old fashioned and I saw it appearing less and less (although it is clearly still in current usage). I now use "Sincerely." For ultra-formal correspondence, i.e., to a court, it might be "Respectfully." For social correspondence, I do precisely as RayMan described two or so posts above.

I do the same thing, except "talk to you soon" since I usually am not going to be doing that

Sometimes, to friends and family, "love to all", "peace to your house"; semi-formally, "warm regards".

This thread brings up nice memories of earlier correspondence!

"Sincerely" for formal or business correspondence, "Regards" for informal or personal correspondence.

I quite like "respectfully", and may give that a turn.

Nathan Hondros

Family: "Love,"

Freinds/Personal Acquaintances: "Cheers'"

Biz/Professional: "Sincerely," somtimes "Regards,"

Mortgage Company: "A Pestilance Upon Your House,"

In writing to an ebay seller, I use "Best" or "Cheers". With close friends and family I use "Love", of course.

On another note, whilst I am an American, and for me to use the word "whilst" just sounds pompous (It sounds just fine when y'all use it) I wish I could get away with it. Then again, since I am in Texas, I get to say y'all with impunity.

Sincerely,

Vida

Business: Sincerely

Friends: Love or All My Best

Family: Love

Ex-Wife: Strongly Worded Death Threat to Follow (but with a smiley face).

Informal ones i use...

Take good care,

Thinking of you,

Namaste',
(i found this word while reading about Buddhism. It basically means "the sacred within me recognizes and honors the sacred within you". Probably my favorite sign off)

~Jasper

To friends and family I usually say stuff like, "talk to you later/soon," but I've said "sincerely" in more formal situations. Most of the time though I just stick my name at the end.

For formal letters, I use Yt.

For personal letters, I use: By the crank-arbalest thighs and sintered copper pate of King Lent and the carballoy cudgel of Ninib the Smiter, I remayne thine in haze and foam.

Paddler

I just leave instructions on where to leave the money and a standard warning against involving the Police.

For casual friends, I generally use "peace" or "all the best."

If it's family, it's "love".

If it's business, I'll use "best."

Several years ago I read a book wherein one of the characters always signed her letters with "Wish you well." I kind of like this for informal personal correspondence - although I think "Wishing you well" sounds better.

Judybug

I Sincerely, Most sincerely yours or Warmest regards, with Sincerely being the default if I am unsure what to use. Love if writing to my mother and sister

In case anyone is interested, The New American Handbook of Letter Writing lists the following complimentary closes, arranged under each heading from most to least formal:

Formal
Respectfully,
Respectfully yours,
Yours truly,
Yours very truly,
Very sincerely yours,
Very cordially yours,
Sincerely yours,

Informal
Sincerely yours,
Cordially yours,
Sincerely,
Regards,
Best regards,
Warmest regards,
Best wishes,

In addition, "Sincerely yours" is the informal equivalent of "Respectfully", "Cordially yours" the informal equivalent of "Respectfully yours", etc. Informal closes are used in social correspondence to friends and acquaintances who are peers, co-workers, clients and the like. Formal closes are used for legal, official and other formal correspondence, and for correspondence to persons of higher social rank, to people you do not know and to anyone who expects reserve and formality.

Hmm, I'm not sure I really have a standard. I use "love" when it's not out of place, depending on to whom I'm writing. I use "cheers" a fair bit, but I have a hunch that it sounds off coming from an American if writing to a British correspondent. If near a holiday (and appropriate), "happy <whatever>" works. "Thanks" will do for a lot of business correspondence.

I generally tend to adopt a pretty casual, conversational tone in letters, so I'll almost always use something like "take care" before a more formal-sounding "sincerely yours." In fact, I don't think I've ever used anything ending in "yours."

Thanks to Pendragon for the shadings of formality.

I've noticed that "Respectfully submitted" is common at the end of motions in court.

Thought I would just pass the correct info.........(From WiKipedia and also from my common knowledge since I am from India)....

"Namaste
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Namasté or Namaskar (नमस्ते [nʌmʌsˈteː] from internal sandhi between namaḥ and te) is an Indian greeting or parting phrase as well as a gesture. It is commonly used by Hindus and Buddhists.

Taken literally, it means "I bow to you". The word is derived from Sanskrit (namas): to bow, obeisance, reverential salutation, and (te): "to you".[1]

When spoken to another person, it is commonly accompanied by a slight bow made with hands pressed together, palms touching and fingers pointed upwards, in front of the chest. The gesture can also be performed wordlessly and carry the same meaning.

I think it's translated in concept rather than in literal meaning, especially for Americans. We're not used to bowing, so we need a reason.

The reason here is simple enough.............respect for the other person.

Speaking of bowing, I've noticed Buddhists signing off, "In gassho" with gassho being the palms together bow.

Here in Hawaii, it's not uncommon to sign off, "Mahalo a nui loa," which means thank you very much, or "a hui hou," until we meet again.

Doug

The Tamil (and Telugu and Malayalam as well) version of "Namaste" is "NAMASKARAM", while in Kannada we say "NAMASKARA" !
(Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada are all South Indian languages.)

I am with Chud on this, I itend to say what ai feel is appropriate to my relationship with that person.

I used to teach people to write more as they speak, so, as guidance, ask yourself how you'd end a conversation with that correspondent:
"Take Care", "Love to the family", "See you/talk to you soon", "Please keep in touch" are things I might say to friends(and "Cheers" to drinking pals!), but for people like one or two on in FPN from whom I've had good email advice, but whoa re relatively new to my acquaintance, I'd probably use "Kind Regards", because that's just how I feel about them.
(I wouldn't say "Kind regards" to them, probably more likely "Thanks for your help, 'Bye", or something similar...."Take Care" is my good old standby!)

If the correspondent has done something for you (especially, but not necessarily, for which you haven't paid!), then I think it is nice to end with some sort of thanks...... if you've asked a lot then it might be thoughtful to say "Thank you for taking the trouble to sort this out...".
It's courteous without being formal and 'ritualistic'....that person is more likely to remember you in a positive way. (You may need more help in the future!)

Thanks for the literal translation. And, i think, literal translations are open to a certain amount of interpretation. The definition that i used is, in my mind, a fair description of 'reverential salutation'. Also, i didn't come up with that definition on my own...it came from the book "Circling the Sacred Mountain" (Mt. Kailash) by Robert Thurman and Tad Wise. For me, it creates a really nice 'visual'...more so than any of the descriptive words in the literal translation. And as an artist i am way more interested in visuals than words. Or, i should say...words are important and impact me when they create a visual.
Namaste',
Jasper

I like to sign off on formal or business correspondence with "At Your Service". I have a different taste for e-mails where unless it is something I am forwarding (which I never, never do) I sign off with "I hope this serves you".

email:

-Hélène

or

Hélène

English:

Love, (to family or boyfriend)

Peace,

Sincerely, (anyone else)

French:

à bientôt.
à plus.
gros bizous. (someone I use tu with)
bisous. (someone I use tu with)
bisous à tous. (someone whose family I know and I use tu with)
bisous à toute la famille. (someone whose family I know and I use tu with)

(I normally write casual letters in French and both casual and formal letters in English)
(bisous literally means kisses)

If I lived a hundred years ago...

Your humble and obedient servant,


More uniquely and impersonally...

Anthony Miller, sends


Respectfully,
Tony

Haha, actually I still use that one when writing in Spanish. In Spanish it is not unusual to continue to use the ancient and highly respectful forms, and I enjoy that, and so do the people I write to. Often we add phony titles (Baron, Count, Countess), etc. But I often sign off with: Su humilde servidor, or a more intense version, Vuestra muy humilde servidor, (as though addressing royalty). Otherwise a very common one is Un abrazo (a hug, which is appropriate for males or females who are good friends.)

But in English my sign-off varies widely depending on who I am writing to. An acquaintance gets Best regards, or Yours truly. A not-so-friendly business letter gets Sincerely. Some get Love, some get Peace out, or Ciao babe! It depends on who the recipient is.

Family/Friends: Love, In Christ, Your Friend
Work: Respectfully or Respectfully Submitted

You know, that made me laugh until I realized that my house is their house...

Family and close friends = Love

Greek Buddies = χαρις και ειρηνη σοι (grace and peace to you)

Christian friends = In Christ

Jewish friends= שלומ

OR, if I'm feeling funny = TTFN (ta ta for now)

Impersonal letters = regards, or warmly,

Try Peace, Out if you want to be more contemporary.

Later, Gator, if you want a vintage flavor to your letter.

How about "Mañana Iguana"? ala Bobby McFerrin

How about "Ciao for now." Which I never use but a cute friend does because she can get away with it.

Doug

This is something that I take far too seriously for some reason. I always try to make the last group of words on the page into an *actual* sentence. So, my peers, I might respond to you

Within the Fellowship of the Wet Nib,

Brent

P.S. although, I also find this to be a useful time to poke one at oneself - and I'd be remiss if I did not point out someone I'd copied frequently

Red Beans and Ricely Yours,
(The Way The Great Sachemo used to sign his letters)

(If you live the outside North America, or otherwise don't know the name of Louis Armstrong, I'd encourage you to hunt about the internet - he was a master of his craft)

In any case I try to custom fit every one - no standard sign off... dunno why...

Brent

Oh - and something that has been terribly effective for me over the years - a job interview or other substantial business deal... don't send an email... a handwritten NOTE of thanks will carry you a long way in their estimation (keep it short).

Yours in faithful Terminal Cellulosic Pigmentation,

Brent

I'd venture to guess that Louis Armstrong is very well known rather more widely than just within North America... :-)

Fairly big fan of the Great Satchmo The way he signs off his letters really makes me smile.

Hello,

even our parents grew up with the great Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong. In Germany he is a legend. My husband had the opportunity to meet him in a concert. Europe is not as far, as DVORAK may think...

German endings I'm using:

Hochachtungsvoll, (respectfully)
mit freundlichen Grüßen (or MfG ), (with friendly greetings, best regards)

Mit herzlichen Grüßen, (with heartfelt greetings)
in Liebe, (with love)
in Freundschaft, (with friendship)
bis bald, (see you soon)
mit Gottes Segen, (God bless)
alles Gute, (best regards, best wishes)
Deine... (yours)

Anna

I like those. My boss and I are fairly informal, so when it's an email I don't expect will be forwarded or otherwise don't expect to see again (such as, in front of the unemployment board...), I'll use:
-My writings are endlessly your intellectual property,
-Your indentured servant,
-Yours until retirement,
-Yours until death (of overwork, no doubt),

Personal letters run the gammut...
-Yours,
-Until next time,
-Your faithful crusader,
-Yours lustfully,
-Yes, Virginia, there IS a Santa Claus,

You get the idea.... I'm a very, very tongue-in-cheek person with a dry sense of humor.

~~King

After someone gets to know me a bit, I sign off "Love and guts."

My best friend gets "Love and [phrase summarizing content of letter]."

Often, playfully, "Ciao fer niao."

For sjm only, "Your Woman."

Cordially,

works for me.

I don't really have a standard closing.

It depends on the letter, who its to, what its about. Usually the closing has some attempt at a clever reference to the content, if its informal. Or simply Cheers, or a well wishing of some sort.

Formal may have a Regards, or a Sincerely, or something similar.

I've lately started using "Regards" for folks I don't personally know, such as general queries or business correspondence. Real formal correspondence such as a letter to a congressman might get "Yours Truly" or "Sincerely yours." My sister usually gets something along the lines of just my name and a title, something like "Your Sister Cindy, Homewrecker Extrordinaire (which is a reference to the vast and neverending remodeling projects I've been doing.) With other relatives it's really usually just the name as most of them are a rather standoffish bunch.