Booher's Rules of Business Grammar - Dianna Booher 2009

Dear spike
Punctuation problems

PUNCTUATION AFTER SALUTATIONS

Businesspeople have had serious problems with dress on casual Fridays. Bosses complain that some people show up in the proper collared shirt and khakis, while others wander in to work in cut-offs and T-shirts. Apparently, that same confusion between formal and casual dress has spilled over into salutations.

Somehow the formal “Dear Mr. Gonzales:” of letter writing and the informal “Hey, Brittany,” of e-mailing have merged in some minds to form this greeting: “Dear Winnifred;”

A semicolon never follows a salutation. The use of commas or colons in greetings is a matter of formality or familiarity. It’s your choice. You can either use a colon and make it a formal salutation or use a comma or dash and make it an informal salutation. Of course, it’s up to you whether Brittany’s your best friend, your beloved boss, or your bewitching colleague. The following greetings are arranged from very formal to very informal.

Dear Mr. Raymer:

Dear Mr. Raymer,

Dear Spike:

Dear Spike,

Spike,

Spike—(very informal, as in “picking up from the last conversation”)

Memory tip

Using a semicolon to punctuate a salutation is as inappropriate as eating with a toothbrush. It’s the wrong tool.