Status of 'Dear Both' as a salutation - English Stack Exchange

email - Refer to people as 'both' - English Stack ... EnglishLanguage&UsageStackExchangeisaquestionandanswersiteforlinguists,etymologists,andseriousEnglishlanguageenthusiasts.Itonlytakesaminutetosignup. Signuptojointhiscommunity Anybodycanaskaquestion Anybodycananswer Thebestanswersarevotedupandrisetothetop Home Public Questions Tags Users Unanswered Teams StackOverflowforTeams –Startcollaboratingandsharingorganizationalknowledge. CreateafreeTeam WhyTeams? Teams CreatefreeTeam Teams Q&Aforwork Connectandshareknowledgewithinasinglelocationthatisstructuredandeasytosearch. Learnmore Statusof'DearBoth'asasalutation AskQuestion Asked 7years,4monthsago Modified 6years,7monthsago Viewed 66ktimes 4 0 Itseemsquitecommon(althoughnotuniversallyaccepted)toopenemailsaddressedtoalargegroupwith"DearAll,"(seee.g.thisquestion).Extendingthislogic,isseemsreasonabletoopenwith"DearBoth,"isthegroupyou'readdressinghappenstohaveexactlytwopeopleinit. Itgoeswithoutsayingthatitisnotappropriateforformalletters,butIamwondering-justhowinappropriateisit?IsitOKinsemiformalcorrespondence(toone'scoworkers,students,etc.)?Howdoesitsoundtothenativespreakers?(i.e.Doesitsound/lookunnatural?) Edit:Ihavetriedgoogling,butunfortunately,thisdoesnotproduceverysatisfactoryresults.It'smostlyforumthreadswithcontraryandunsupportedanswers(rangingfromthingslike"I'veneverseenitused"to"surely,it'sbeenwidelyusedevenbeforeemails"). formalityletter-writing Share Improvethisquestion Follow editedApr13,2017at12:38 CommunityBot 1 askedMar20,2015at11:05 JakubKoniecznyJakubKonieczny 1,08266goldbadges1515silverbadges2222bronzebadges 3 Homework:google.com/?#q=%22dear+both%22+ – Kris Mar20,2015at11:18 @Kris:Thanks,butIdidgooglethis.ThereasonwhyI'maskinghereisthatpeopleseemtobesayingcontrarythings(from"I'veneverseenitused"to"it'sbeenwidelyusedevenbeforeemails"),andIwashopingSEwouldturnupsomethingmoreconcrete. – JakubKonieczny Mar20,2015at11:30 1 Feanor,thatwouldbetterbepartofthequestionforthebenefitofalltosee.Pleaseseemyanswer. – Kris Mar20,2015at11:45 Addacomment  |  3Answers 3 Sortedby: Resettodefault Highestscore(default) Datemodified(newestfirst) Datecreated(oldestfirst) 1 Yes.Unbelievably,itis"reasonable,"withcloselyacquaintedaddressees. Theprocessofgrowingfriendshipcanbeseeninthegreetings:DearSignora,DearMrs,MyDear(thesurnamecrossedout),MarcelloandMunira,Cara,giveplacetoMydearest,DearBothandinthelastone,DearChild. SeanO'Faolain'sLetterstoBrazil,2005,p.172 Note"growingfriendship,""greetings,""giveplaceto"leadingonto"DearBoth"–"Both"isnotapropernameinthecontext,bytheway. Thoughnotquiteausageindirectaddressing,thephrase"dearboth(of'em)"canbefoundinDickens! Thenmydearbothof'embowedverylowandhaughtyandparted,… CharlesDickens,ChristmasStories,Vol.II,p.53 Share Improvethisanswer Follow answeredMar20,2015at11:44 KrisKris 36.6k66goldbadges5353silverbadges151151bronzebadges 1 1 IwouldreadapauseintoyourDickensquoteThenmydearbreathbothof'embowed....He'stelling"mydear"thatbothofthembowed,he'snotaddressing"dearboth".That'smytake-I'venotreadthewholething,norcanIviayourlink.Pg52isonepagepastwhatitwillallowmetosee. – FreeMan Nov1,2017at18:39 Addacomment  |  5 "DearBoth"strikesmeasverycontrivedandawkwardlyformal.Ifyou'readdressinganemailtotwoco-workers,"JohnandSusan",seemsmuchmoreappropriate.Ifthey'refriends,"DearJohnandSusan"seemsmuchmorepersonal. Share Improvethisanswer Follow answeredMar20,2015at12:49 FreeManFreeMan 17944bronzebadges Addacomment  |  5 ThisyearIhavestartedseeingalotmoreemailsaddressedto'DearBoth'.Consensusthoughwithmyprofessionalpeersisthatitislazy,evenabitrude. Ifthereareonly2recipientsthenwritingDear'Tim'and'Sarah'forexampleismuchmorepoliteandtakeslittlemoretimeandeffort.Asimplegreetingof'Goodafternoon'or'GoodMorning'ismorealsomorepolitethanDearBoth. Share Improvethisanswer Follow answeredOct8,2015at4:12 ScottScott 5111silverbadge11bronzebadge Addacomment  |  Highlyactivequestion.Earn10reputation(notcountingtheassociationbonus)inordertoanswerthisquestion.Thereputationrequirementhelpsprotectthisquestionfromspamandnon-answeractivity. Nottheansweryou'relookingfor?Browseotherquestionstaggedformalityletter-writingoraskyourownquestion. FeaturedonMeta AnnouncingtheStacksEditorBetarelease! Linked 36 Isitappropriatetousethesalutation"DearAll"inaworkemail? 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