How shall start a letter addressing a person whom I neither like nor esteem?

English translation: Mr/Mrs/Ms

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

English term or phrase:	Salutation in a letter to someone not well-liked
Selected answer:	Mr/Mrs/Ms
Entered by:	Fuad Yahya

20:25 Apr 5, 2003

English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Art/Literary - General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters

English term or phrase: How shall start a letter addressing a person whom I neither like nor esteem?

I'm writing a letter to a crook and I would like to avoid starting the letter with the "Dear" formula. At the same time I want my message to be still civilized enough. What would you suggest?

Nikita Kobrin KudoZ activity Questions: 210 (5 open) (1 without valid answers) (1 closed without grading) Answers: 1064 Lithuania
Local time: 01:24

simply: "Mr (Mrs, etc) <Jane-John Doe>"

Explanation:
I guess it should work.

Selected response from:

Kirill Semenov
Ukraine
Local time: 01:24

Grading comment

Thanks to all for the suggestions.

I've decided that just a title (Mr/Mrs/Ms) is fine for this occasion.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED

5 +11

Dear. . .

Fuad Yahya

4 +12

Sir/Madam

Susana Galilea

5 +7

To Mr. X

Marian Greenfield

5 +7

memo format

RHELLER

3 +8

simply: "Mr (Mrs, etc) <Jane-John Doe>"

Kirill Semenov

5 +4

Mr. X,

Catherine Bolton

5 +1

Dear Deadbeat

Christopher Crockett

Discussion entries: 1

Answers

4 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +7

To Mr. X

Explanation:
You have a choice of Dear Sir:

or simply

To Mr. X

Marian Greenfield
Local time: 18:24
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 44

5 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +11

Dear. . .

Explanation:
The expression "Dear. . . " is a not a term of endearment. It is merely a convention. In a situation where you want to mantian the posture of a civilized person, "Dear. . . " has just the right tone if you are addressing someone you intensely dislike.

Fuad

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2003-11-29 19:20:39 (GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------

Typo correction: maintain, not mantian.

With apologies.

Fuad Yahya
Works in field
Native speaker of:

Arabic,

English
PRO pts in category: 8

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)

agree

awilliams: yes. My mother always said "kill them with kindness". :)

10 mins

agree

Will Matter

57 mins

agree

Erika P (X): For the sake of subtlety....However you do it, do it in style.:-)

1 hr

agree

Ino66 (X)

2 hrs

agree

Lia Fail (X): Absolutely, it's devoid of affection, is merely a convention

4 hrs

agree

???: agree with amy's mother

8 hrs

neutral

Georgios Paraskevopoulos: I understand Amy's mother but a crook don't understand her

9 hrs

-> You are confusing my answer with Amy's mother's answer.

agree

Viktoria Gimbe: It doesn't mean you like them, but they can't say you're not polite. I always smile at people I dislike ;) It can't be held against me :D

16 hrs

agree

Sarah Ponting: absolutely

20 hrs

agree

Empty Whiskey Glass

21 hrs

agree

Anna Moorby DipTrans: You can't really get away from the 'Dear' option, anything else would not be appropriate to start a formal letter

1 day 19 hrs

agree

AhmedAMS

237 days

7 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +12

Sir/Madam

Explanation:
I would suggest a plain "Sir" or "Madam"...the absence of "Dear" would be more eloquent than any adjective you may come up with (i.e., they do not even deserve an adjective)

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2003-04-06 01:49:10 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

And I agree with Amy\'s comment above, no need to give them the courtesy of your anger ;-)

Susana Galilea
United States
Local time: 17:24
Native speaker of:

Spanish
PRO pts in category: 8

7 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +8

simply: "Mr (Mrs, etc) <Jane-John Doe>"

Explanation:
I guess it should work.

Kirill Semenov
Ukraine
Local time: 01:24
Works in field
Native speaker of:

Russian
PRO pts in category: 28

Grading comment

Thanks to all for the suggestions.

I've decided that just a title (Mr/Mrs/Ms) is fine for this occasion.

9 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +4

Mr. X,

Explanation:
I agree with Fuad that "dear" at the start of a letter is not a term of endearment. Nonetheless, if you want to sound cold and to the point, simply start with "Mr. X". I've seen this done and it's actually quite effective, as it clearly tells your reader that you've deliberately avoided any salutation.

In other words,

Mr. XX,
and then the body of the letter.

Catherine Bolton
Local time: 00:24
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 4

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +7

memo format

Explanation:
I agree with the others but have this format useful myself, on certain occasions. It is very businesslike.

DATE: 3/4/03

TO: xyz

FROM: abc

RE: past business, ref. no. 589

This note is to remind you that you need to....

for authentification, you can initial it in ink, or even sign your name at the bottom

one more option :-)

RHELLER
United States
Local time: 16:24
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 92

20 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

Dear Deadbeat

Explanation:
If the guy owes you.

Works for me.

Christopher Crockett
Local time: 18:24
Native speaker of:

English

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How shall start a letter addressing a person whom I neither like nor esteem?

English translation: Mr/Mrs/Ms

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