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Usenet Posted 21 years ago
Usage

"Best wishes"

Dear all,
I'm in the process of writing an official invitation letter to encourage poets and novelists to participate in an international literature festival. By today's standard, is it O.K. to conclude this official letter with "Best wishes" (followed by the host's signature)? Some of my colleagues seem to think "Sincerely yours" is better than "Best wishes," but my impression is that "Sincerely yours" (for that matter, "Yours sincerely," "Truly yours," or "Yours truly") sounds somewhat 'obsolete' that is, I don't remember seeing one of those in (invitation) letters sent to me these days.
Any comment will be appreciated. Thank you.
J. W. Ghong
  

Top answer

[nq:1]Dear all, I'm in the process of writing an official invitation letter to encourage poets and novelists to participate in ... of those in (invitation) letters sent to me these days. Any comment will be appreciated.

  • [nq:1]Dear all, I'm in the process of writing an official invitation letter to encourage poets and novelists to participate in ...
  • of those in (invitation) letters sent to me these days.
  • Any comment will be appreciated.
  • Thank you.
  • J.
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18 Answers
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[nq:1]Dear all, I'm in the process of writing an official invitation letter to encourage poets and novelists to participate in ... of those in (invitation) letters sent to me these days. Any comment will be appreciated. Thank you. J. W. Ghong[/nq]
Just my opinion, but as a writer who receives a lot of these literary missives, I'd prefer "Sincerely," over and above something like "Best wishes,"
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[nq:1]Dear all, I'm in the process of writing an official invitation letter to encourage poets and novelists to participate in ... remember seeing one of those in (invitation) letters sent to me these days. Any comment will be appreciated. Thank you.[/nq]
If your invitations will be in the form of email, I agree that 'Best wishes' is the best choice. I don't think the closing has caught on in
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[nq:2]Dear all, I'm in the process of writing an official ... Any comment will be appreciated. Thank you. J. W. Ghong[/nq]
[nq:1]Just my opinion, but as a writer who receives a lot of theseliterary missives, I'd prefer "Sincerely," over and above something like"Best wishes," or even a "yours" in there. Because you might wish to maintain impartiality even whileattempting to encourage authors.[/
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In BrEng use either "Yours faithfully" (to unnamed addressee, e.g. "Dear Sir") or "Yours sincerely" (to a named addressee, e.g. Dear Mr Smith or DearFred) - neither are obsolete or dated.
D
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[nq:2]Dear all, I'm in the process of writing an official ... me these days. Any comment will be appreciated. Thank you.[/nq]
[nq:1]If your invitations will be in the form of email, I agree that 'Best wishes' is the best choice. I ... If somewhere else, 'Yours sincerely' might be more appropriate. It is what I see in Ireland most often, for one.[/nq]
"Yours sincerely" is normal UK usage, t
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[nq:1]British-type conventional practice is never to use "sincerely" unless in a personal message to somebody with whom you are already ... it depends on your target group. (Putting the "yours" after the "sincerely" looks even more falsely intimate to British eyes.)[/nq]
I'm not entirely in agreement with Mike's first comment. It seems polite enough to use "Dear Professor X ... Yours sincerely
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[nq:2]British-type conventional practice is never to use "sincerely"unless in a ... the "sincerely" looks even more falsely intimate to British eyes.)[/nq]
[nq:1] I'm not entirely in agreement with Mike's first comment. It seems polite enough to use "Dear Professor X ... ... ona matter of common interest. But the old conventions may be breaking down and rules abandoned in favour of mateyness..
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[nq:1]If the letter starts "Dear Mr X" (etc) then by UK convention it has to end "Yours sincerely", though I ... Sir" letters end "Yours faithfully". But the old conventions may be breaking down and rules abandoned in favour of mateyness..[/nq]
On the rare occasions that I need to write letters, I tend to start with ``Sir:'' or ``Sirs:'' and end with ``Cordially''. My instructor didn't seem to
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[nq:2]If the letter starts "Dear Mr X" (etc) then by ... may be breaking down andrules abandoned in favour of mateyness..[/nq]
[nq:1]On the rare occasions that I need to write letters, I tend to start with ``Sir:'' or ``Sirs:'' and end with ``Cordially''. Myinstructor didn't seem to complain when I took the Business Comms. course last semester.[/nq]
OK, but don't do it for a British or Iri
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[nq:2]On the rare occasions that I need to write letters, ... complain when I took the Business Comms. course last semester.[/nq]
[nq:1]OK, but don't do it for a British or Irish recipient. That "cordially" would be taken as iritatingly fake:[/nq]
It is equally likely for someone to take ``sincerely'' as fake, too, don't you think? I mean, how would they know I'm not writing with an intent

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