Regards vs. Yours truly

[nq:1]Which of the two following salutations is more formal: "Yours truly" or "Regards"??[/nq]
"Regards" has always struck me as very British. I never letters closed that way.
I think in the U.S. "Yours truly" is more formal than "Sincerely yours."

Dena Jo
Email goes to denajo2 at the dot com variation of the Yahoo domain. Have I confused you? Go here:

Julie typed thus:
[nq:1]Hello, Which of the two following salutations is more formal: "Yours truly" or "Regards"??[/nq]
When I were a young person in the UK Midlands (circa 1960) we were taught the following list of sign-off phrases:
"yours faithfully" - the most formal, for business purposes and when writing to people you don't know;
"yours sincerely" - less formal, for use with a

[nq:1]"regards" is surely an artifact of the email age.[/nq]
The first places I saw "Regards", "Best", and "Cheers" as sign-offs to messages were on the Internet. And that's almost the only place I've seen them.
Michael Hamm NB: Of late, my e-mail address is being AM, Math, Wash. U. St. Louis 'spoofed' a bit. That is, spammers send (Email Removed) e-mail that seems to be from me. Please

[nq:1]Julie typed thus:[/nq]
[nq:2]Hello, Which of the two following salutations is more formal: "Yours truly" or "Regards"??[/nq]
[nq:1]When I were a young person in the UK Midlands (circa 1960) we were taught the following list of sign-off ... can spread over three typed lines, even if it's just a letter telling me that my insurance premium is due.[/nq]
The Harper-Collins Robert dict

[nq:1]When I were a young person in the UK Midlands (circa 1960) we were taught the following list of sign-off phrases:[/nq]
I am a little older and was taught a slightly more formal approach:
[nq:1]"yours faithfully" - the most formal, for business purposes and when writing to people you don't know;[/nq]
And thus to be used when addressing letters "Dear Sir" or "Dear Madam"
[nq:1]

[nq:1]Julie typed thus:[/nq]
[nq:2]Hello, Which of the two following salutations is more formal: "Yours truly" or "Regards"??[/nq]
[nq:1]When I were a young person in the UK Midlands (circa 1960) we were taught the following list of sign-off ... use with acquaintances and people to whom you have been properly introduced; "love" - to your family and close friends.[/nq]
I was taught that

[nq:2]Julie typed thus: When I were a young person in ... properly introduced; "love" - to your family and close friends.[/nq]
[nq:1]I was taught that "Yours faithfully" follows "Dear Sir" or similar impersonal salutations, while "Yours sincerely" follows "Dear (name)". I ... than anything else, although it is a long time since I encountered anyone else who had even heard of it.[/nq]
Yippe

[nq:2]"regards" is surely an artifact of the email age.[/nq]
[nq:1]The first places I saw "Regards", "Best", and "Cheers" as sign-offs to messages were on the Internet. And that's almost the only place I've seen them.[/nq]
Back when I had that *** for the cruise line, in 1990-1991, we didn't have anything like email, but the Europeans (British, Norwegian, whatever) persons who sent telexes

[nq:2]Which of the two following salutations is more formal: "Yours truly" or "Regards"??[/nq]
[nq:1]"Regards" has always struck me as very British. I never letters closed that way.[/nq]
"Best regards" sometimes occurs in AmE, but I agree that a bare "Regards" is of Britic origin. I think it's similar to that avoidance of punctuation thing in modern British culture. You also see this in Do

[nq:2]I was taught that "Yours faithfully" follows "Dear Sir" or ... I encountered anyone else who had even heard of it.[/nq]
[nq:1]Yippee! Laura has heard of it, so that proves I didn't imagine it. I was beginning to wonder.[/nq]
It's so familiar to me that I assumed everyone knew it.

Matti