Spelling and punctuation matter in e-mail.

[Verbivore]

According to a report on MacsimumNews - www.macsimumnews.com/index.php/archive/are_you_addicted_to_email1/ - about AOL Mail’s fourth annual Email Addiction Survey

Most respondents (88 percent) [actual survey numbers were not given, but 20 US cities were surveyed] said that they pay attention to spelling and punctuation when writing emails, and 68 percent said emails with spelling and punctuation errors annoyed them. Interestingly, 74 percent said they excuse errors when emails are sent from a mobile device like an iPhone or BlackBerry.

That might be good news, but

[...] nearly one quarter (24 percent) of email users said they don’t even use a salutation—they just dive right into their email messages. Meanwhile, 23 percent write “Hi Bob” and 20 percent say “Hello Bob” when they start an email to co-worker Bob.

I have a (probably annoying!) habit of returning to sender e-mails received without a salutation - unless the messages are part of an ongoing series in one session or one day, where I'm happy for the salutation to be omitted from messages subsequent to the initial message. I just think that to commence a (series of) message(s) with no salutation is ignorant of basic manners. (My usual salutations - depending on who the intended recipient is - are: Hello, [Name]; G'day, [Name]; Dear [Name or Title].)

[Paul Doherty]

I wonder if the respondents were self-selected?

As you say, many emails are part of an ongoing conversation and need no salutation. I just sent one saying only "OK. P." for example. If I e-mail my partner at work, I might well just dive straight in -- we communicate all the time, so starting with a name each time would seem downright odd.

In the business world, in the pre-email days when we sent paper, letters needed a salutation, memos didn't. Now e-mail has largely taken the place of both, I'd suggest that it follows at least two conventions depending on context.

Did the survey take any account of all that? Or is it, as they usually are, just a non-scientific PR piece designed to keep AOL's name in the public mind?

[gavinmccord]

Slightly OT, but IIRC, in The UNIX System (S. R. Bourne) it discusses using the talk program and when a message is sent, the examples end with (o) for 'over' and (oo) for 'over and out'.

I've never seen this (when I got the book in 1988 it seemed a bit quaint and WWII-ish even then).

Has anyone used this in messages ?

[Paul Doherty]

If it was good enough for Stephen Bourne, I'd be tempted. I'm not sure I see the use though -- surely it's obvious when the message is sent?

(o) (Do I need the brackets?)

[Dave M]

I train (force?) my staff always to place the recipient's name at the beginning of an e-mail (with no other salutation, unless they want to).

This to help future readers understand who was saying what to whom, as we read our way through the sequences which build up as A writes to B, who forwards to C and D, who sends a B-only message and a variant to A , C and E ...

[Geoff]

... when a message is sent, the examples end with (o) for 'over' and (oo) for 'over and out'.

I think the expression "Over and out' has been copied from fanciful movies. The following are two quotes from the same web site:

Trained radio operators grind their teeth on hearing 'over and out.' In proper usage, 'Over' means 'I've finished speaking for the moment and await your reply.' 'Out' is used to terminate a conversation.

'Over' and 'Out' should NEVER be used together in serious radio communication.

As a trained military aircrew radio operator, I can vouch for the fact that 'Over' and 'Out' should never be used together. I believe that restriction should extend to all forms of communication, not just to radio communication. The reason should be obvious from their respective meanings described above. I have clear memories of my Warrant Officer instructor's reaction when I used the expression the first time I was handed a live microphone on my initial training course.

[Paul Doherty]

Aug 3, 2008 3:36:36 GMT Geoff said:

I have clear memories of my Warrant Officer instructor's reaction when I used the expression the first time I was handed a live microphone on my initial training course.

A little disappointed? A few murmurs of displeasure?

[Pete]

Aug 2, 2008 12:07:40 GMT Verbivore said:

My usual salutations - depending on who the intended recipient is - are: Hello, [Name]; G'day, [Name]; Dear [Name or Title].)

I usually just use the name, unless I am addressing someone I do not know, in which case I would use "Dear [name]" or occasionally "Hello, [name]".

[Pete]

When we are addressing people, we almost always use a comma to surround the name of the addressee. As in: "Hello, Bob", or, "If you are ready, Gill, I'll start my presentation".

So why is there no comma in the phrase "Dear Bob" at the beginning of a letter? Are we using "Dear" as an adjective, here?

[Twoddle]

Aug 3, 2008 17:37:56 GMT Pete said:

When we are addressing people, we almost always use a comma to surround the name of the addressee. As in: "Hello, Bob", or, "If you are ready, Gill, I'll start my presentation".

So why is there no comma in the phrase "Dear Bob" at the beginning of a letter? Are we using "Dear" as an adjective, here?

Tone knows chapter and verse on it, but Hello, Bob. contains the "comma of direct address" and should be written as I've done it, whereas Dear Bob, ... is different.

[Pete]

Aug 3, 2008 17:41:08 GMT Twoddle said:

Aug 3, 2008 17:37:56 GMT Pete said:

When we are addressing people, we almost always use a comma to surround the name of the addressee. As in: "Hello, Bob", or, "If you are ready, Gill, I'll start my presentation".

So why is there no comma in the phrase "Dear Bob" at the beginning of a letter? Are we using "Dear" as an adjective, here?

Tone knows chapter and verse on it, but Hello, Bob. contains the "comma of direct address" and should be written as I've done it, whereas Dear Bob, ... is different.

But why, kind sir, why? Odd! I didn't need a comma there, either. Help!!

[Tone]

Dave M,
>as we read our way through the sequences which build up as A writes to B, who forwards to C and D<

Do all your colleagues have code letters instead of names?
Bet you are "M", but who is "Q"?

Tone

[Tone]

Geoff,
>I think the expression "Over and out' has been copied from fanciful movies.<

Bit like the "arse-about-face" (albeit much argued about) expression -- "lock and load".

Tone

[Dave M]

> ...copied from fanciful movies.

Bit like the ... <

And "Anything you do say will be taken down in writing and used against you". The UK caution is quite a bit different, nowadays, but even in older movies, the "used against you" bit should never have been there. I'm pleased to say that our judiciary (who advise on the wording for cautions) are sensible enough to have recognised that something you say upon arrest might be used in evidence FOR you!

[Paul Doherty]

And English judges don't have gavels.