A number of years in the past, when a reader mentioned he refused to make use of “Pricey So-and-So” to start a enterprise letter as a result of pricey is simply too intimate a phrase to make use of with a stranger, I assumed that he represented a minority of 1. Who, I puzzled, would interpret a longtime conference like “Pricey Sir” actually?
Little did I do know!
I’ve not too long ago stumbled throughout quite a few articles with titles like “Is ‘Pricey’ Lifeless as a Salutation?”
I used to be amazed to search out feedback like these:
From an English professor
Not often would anybody use pricey when writing a good friend, but it surely may be applicable when making use of for a job or emailing a boss.From a instructor
A number of males admitted they couldn’t power themselves to make use of Pricey to handle a enterprise acquaintance, particularly one they didn’t like.From a enterprise marketing consultant
Pricey comes throughout as too formal–or just plain creepy and overly intimate. And between males, the usage of it might seem a bit too effeminate.
I used to be stunned to be taught that “hardly ever would anybody use pricey when writing a good friend.” After I lived in England, I wrote numerous letters: to my dad and mom, my brother, grandmothers, my aunts, and buddies. Each a type of letters started with “Pricey So-and-So.” Thoughts you, they had been additionally written by hand with a fountain pen.
Even now, on the few events that I write a letter to a good friend with the intention of placing it in an envelope and mailing it, I nonetheless start with “Pricey.” It’s a conference. It’s courteous. It’s respectful.
Simply as weird as saying that one hardly ever begins a letter to a good friend with Pricey is the concept that utilizing Pricey to handle a enterprise acquaintance is a supply of stress in grown males.
Definitely, electronic mail has modified the way in which folks talk in writing. Due to its memo format and ease of sending, electronic mail has developed relaxed conventions for casual exchanges between buddies and colleagues. For this sort of writing, a proper salutation is misplaced.
However even with electronic mail, a distinction is to be drawn between casual and formal communication. “Hello, So-and-So” is just not an appropriate approach to deal with an unknown recipient from whom you need one thing. “Hey, So-and-So” is worse.
“Pricey Mr. Jones” and “Pricey Ms. Smith” are emotion-neutral writing conventions. What I discover “merely plain creepy” is the notion that the salutation Pricey could be construed as “intimate” or “effeminate” within the context of a enterprise letter.
Because the professor says in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, “Bless me, what do they educate them at these colleges!”
Associated posts:
‘Pricey Sir’ and Different Enterprise Conventions
Pricey Sir