If you are writing a job letter but you have not been given contact how do you sign off your letter?
•Cheers
•Your faithfully
•Your sincerely
Answers
Answer:
In our school days the grammar teachers taught us traditional rules about closing the letters. That was long ago a decade or so after the British had wound up their colonial business in the subcontinent leaving behind a legacy of, among others, how to write a letter, its salutations, endings and other features. One interesting ending that has gone out of the usage is ‘Your most obedient servant”. Sometimes the word ‘most’ was dropped to read 'Your obedient servant'.
We were always fascinated by the way Government officials signing off letters with the phrase, ‘I remain, sir, your most humble and obedient servant’. I have seen copies of the letters written by the chief ministers in the British period closing their letters to the Governor General with these humiliating words.
It remains a everlasting mystery why the government officials used this ending given the enormous power they weilded then and weild ever since. Were they making fun of the ordinary public groaning under the colonial ruler and their henchmen, landlords and titled elites Nawabs, Khan Bahadurs, Rai Bahadurs? Well, you cannot get to fathom the depth of British sarcasm.
I know I am digressing much to the annoyance of the fellow Quorans but I don't want to bore you with repeating what nearly a hundred others that opted to answer this interesting question.
As I say this, I am caught between the dilemma in the wake of the American culture as the new trend setters that taught us to eat McDonald's and KFC brands of fast foods, drink coca cola and Pepsi, and nee brand of English, a language that made Bernard Shaw quip America and Britain are two countries divided by a common language.
Let me finally get down to the business of answering the question regarding yours sincerely et al.
Here's a thumb rule for use as the endings in letters, formal or informal.
Yours faithfully to unknown person or business.
Yours truly to slight acquaintance
Yours very truly ceremonious but cordially
Your cordially is the American equivalent of yours faithfully and yours sincerely
Your sincerely when you know the recipient quite well.
If you don’t know the name of the recipient 'Yours faithfully' is what English men use when the recipient is not addressed by name, as in a letter with a “Dear Sir” salutation.
Americans haven't completely forgotten it. Although they are said to be divided by the common language they have coined a new ending Yours truly. It's the American equivalent of “yours faithfully”.When you begin a letter “Dear Sir,” you may close it with the American form “Yours truly.”
When the recipient is known to you you can use the British term Yours sincerely. Americans haven't completely discarded it but reversed the orde-- Sincerely yours. It sounds a little weird but you can't never get far away from the all pervading American culture. It's now used even without batting an eye.
Yours truly is a British trademark term used for informal correspondence. Yours cordially and cordially yours are the other terms used for informal correspondence. If you want to put a further dose of cordiality you can use Yours very truly..
If it comes to writing a letter to someone you're deeply in relationship with you can take liberty with whatever ending you like. Yours ever, As always yours ever, Passionately yours are among the many fancy words that go with closing your letters.