Breaking News English

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) has an issue of letter-writing etiquette many people have long been aware of – the disappearance of the word “Dear” in e-mails. WSJ reporter Dionne Searcy said times have regarding this traditional greeting. She wrote how Abraham Lincoln started an 1863 letter, “My dear General.” President Lincoln also letters to Mrs Lincoln, “Dear Wife.” Ms Searcy this to a e-mail to reporters from Giselle Barry, a spokeswoman for a U.S. politician, that started “Hey, folks.” Searcy says the of “Dear” is going the way of wax and the handwritten letter. Ms Barry believes people are no longer using it because it is too .

The WSJ quotes business etiquette Lydia Ramsey who believes people who do not e-mails with “Dear” will “lack polish”. She says: “It sets the for that business relationship, and it respect. Email is so impersonal it needs all the help it can get.” Jean Broke-Smith, an etiquette teacher . She writes on the BBC website: “We're losing the of letter writing. E-mails are becoming like texts - everyone is abbreviating. If we don't get a on it, future generations won't be able to at all.” English teacher Katie Craig offers the following advice: “The rule is, your reader as you would in the context with which you are replacing the e-mail.” The same goes for the minefield of off a mail.