Social titles

0Hi,02br
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00First, please tell us whether you know the person's name.02br
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00Clive0-

0Let's say Jordan or Riley0-

0 To be honest, when faced with this dilemma in business, I either phoned the company concerned and asked the switchboard or receptionist, or addressed the letter to "Mr" - if that was wrong, you soon found out. 0-

0If you know their first name it isn't a problem. You just write02br
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00Dear Jordan Surname,02br
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00 blah blah0-

0That's so true! Why didn't I think of that? I guess I was so focused on the title that I forgot we could just aaddress the person by his/her name.0-

0Grossly informal for most things, however.02br
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00Formal letter writing should always be addressed 'Dear Sir' in such cases of ambiguity - not even 'Dear Sir/Madam'.02br
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00Gender equality might be a quaint philosophy to live by, but it doesn't hold up in the archaic world or written etiquette. And, I'm afraid, it's not really a 'choice', either..

0Modern business practise has moved on rather - as you say yourself these 'rules' are part of the 'archaic world'.02br
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00Most modern business advice is that it is acceptable to use names and it is not grossly informal. Likewise, 'Sir/Madam' is 100% acceptable these days.02br
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00I wouldn't say that Debrett's is a guide to the modern business world.

0I absolutely agree, but - for a learner who probably doesn't have a fine understanding of nuance - perhaps it's always better to err on the side of over-formality?02br
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00Personally I'd always do that anyway myself: there's something very British about writing in such an 'of the Establishment' fashion. Lletters, as a dying literary form, should retain as much tradition a

0 If you are writing a formal letter don't put the person's name in the salutation; instead put it in the header. Use 01i00dear sir02i00 or 01i00dear madam02i00. If you don't know the name or the *** of the person you wish to contact take the trouble to find out. If you are writing to a department use 01i00dear sirs02i00 (plura

0 01blockquote

01cite10nona the brit12cite10If you know their first name it isn't a problem. You just write12br
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10Dear Jordan Surname,12br
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10 blah blah12br
12blockquote

10I hated and still hate getting letters like this. So rude! And still doesn't help to find out whether it