Good cheer is the bedrock of email etiquette

SIR – Wendy Mellish (Letters, October 23) wonders how to address email recipients who are not close friends or family.

I always start with a cheery “Good morning” (or afternoon). Sometimes I add an exclamation mark for levity – or irony. I finish with “All good wishes” unless there is a whiff of contention between me and the recipient (the bank, for example), in which case I downgrade to “Best wishes”.

Hope this helps (another useful phrase). Liz Wicken Cambridge SIR – It’s best just to launch straight in. No address is required. Shirley Copps Cheltenham, Gloucestershire SIR – I have found that Joey Boswell’s “Greetings” and Jimmy Young’s “TTFN” are useful, succinct, and warm without being at all OTT. Edward Dunleavy Chesterfield, Derbyshire SIR – Quite inadvertently, it would appear, Jeffrey Archer (Features, October 24) has come up with the best parting words I have heard for quite some time: “Will that do?” Mike Spragg Great Yarmouth, Norfolk SIR – I am inclined to use the Latin salute of “Ave”, as in “Ave Maria”. And in signing off, “Bono animo esse” is a kindly way of saying “Be of good heart” or “Be happy”. Donovan Leaman Leyburn, North Yorkshire SIR – I prefer to sign off with “Cheers”, as I find it jolly – unless, of course, I am passing on my condolences, for which a handwritten note is preferable. Mark Downs Leigh, Lancashire SIR – A few years ago I worked for a firm administered by a woman who sent out stern letters whenever she believed that managers or supervisors were not operating in accordance with her strict instructions.

One day I received such a letter. At the end of a long rant, she ended the email as she always did: “Kind regards”. Andrew James Warwick