Same question in point form

[HaraKiriBlade]

OK maybe my question about signing off letters was a bit too... general.

How's this then?

Question no.1

would you be able to tell me when to use the following singoffs?

Sincerely,
Yours Sincerely,
Sincerely Yours,
Regards,
Best / Warm / Kind Regards
Yours Faithfully
Faithfully Yours
Cheers
And if you know any other ways of signing off feel free to mention them.


Question no.2

Many signoffs with 'yours' in them sound like 'I'm dedicated to you' or 'I'm all yours' to me. I know they don't really mean that when used as signoffs but why use phrases that don't really mean what it literally mean? Any story behind it?


I'd really appreciate any input on this. As always, thank you very much.

[Tdol]

Question no.1

would you be able to tell me when to use the following singoffs?

Sincerely, Not much used in BrE
Yours Sincerely, When you have used a name in the salutation
Sincerely Yours, More AE than BrE
Regards, Letter to acquaintance/most emails
Best / Warm / Kind Regards I use best/kind in emails again
Yours Faithfully Letter beginning dear sir or madam
Faithfully Yours Not used much in BrE
Cheers email to friend, but mostly spoken

And if you know any other ways of signing off feel free to mention them.
Yours ever is sometimes used in BrE- Tony Blair used it in a letter of support to a friend who'd resigned to show solidarity at a difficult time.



Question no.2

Many signoffs with 'yours' in them sound like 'I'm dedicated to you' or 'I'm all yours' to me. I know they don't really mean that when used as signoffs but why use phrases that don't really mean what it literally mean? Any story behind it?

A little politeness gets the job done- in the past letters were like petitions begging for favours, so some of that has stayed with us.


I'd really appreciate any input on this. As always, thank you very much.