[Essay] Traditional mail

[nyggus]

Hi,

Will be obliged for any comments.

Thanks,
Nyggus

Traditional mail

Have you recently received or sent an informal letter by regular mail? I don't mean an official letter, which from time to time all of us receive from and send to various institutions. I mean an informal letter to communicate with our family or friends.

I did send such a letter recently. I was away from home and missing my guys. Though I was in touch with them by e-mail and phone, I thought they might enjoy receiving a traditional letter. So I sent one; actually, I wrote it by hand — even more pleasure, at least for me. The letter was short: I wrote I missed them and that kind of stuff. I must admit writing it was real fun, and I know my guys loved reading it.

I know, I know: You're wondering how come I'm sure they liked reading the letter. The truth is, I arrived home before the letter, and I myself took it from the mailman. So, I could actually see my family reading and enjoying it, in front of me.

Here's a hint. If you think you might enjoy receiving such a letter by regular mail, but you don't think you should expect one in any near future, try the following solution. Instead of waiting for an imaginary letter to arrive, simply send yours to a friend or, even better, to a couple of friends. Seeing how nice it is to get such traditional mail, they might decide to make you the very same pleasure you made them. Just give it a try, and if no one actually responds that way, you'll at least feel the pleasure of sending the letter. It's worth a try, believe me!

 

[teechar]

Traditional mail

Have you recently received or sent an informal letter by regular mail? I don't mean an official letter which, from time to time, all of us receive from and send to various institutions. I mean an informal letter to communicate with our family or friends.

I did send such a letter recently. I was away from home and missing my folks/friends/family/sons. [STRIKE]guys.[/STRIKE] Though I was in touch with them by e-mail and phone, I thought they might enjoy receiving a traditional letter. So I sent one; actually, I wrote it by hand — even more pleasurable, at least for me. The letter was short: I wrote I missed them and that kind of stuff. I must admit, writing it was real fun, and I know my folks/friends/family/sons [STRIKE]guys[/STRIKE] loved reading it.

I know, I know: you're wondering how come I'm sure they liked reading the letter. The truth is, I arrived home before the letter, and I myself [STRIKE]took[/STRIKE] received it from the mailman. So, I could actually see my family reading and enjoying it, in front of me.

Here's a hint. If you think you might enjoy receiving such a letter by regular mail, but you don't think you'll get [STRIKE]should expect[/STRIKE] one anytime soon, [STRIKE]in any near future,[/STRIKE] try the following solution. Instead of waiting for an [STRIKE]imaginary[/STRIKE] unlikely letter to arrive, simply send yours to a friend or, even better, to a couple of friends. Seeing how nice it is to get such traditional mail, they might decide to [STRIKE]make[/STRIKE] give you the very same pleasure you [STRIKE]made[/STRIKE] gave them. Just give it a try, and if no one actually responds that way, you'll at least feel the pleasure of sending the letter. It's worth a try, believe me!

.

 

[nyggus]

Thank, teechar.

I can't stop thinking about this comma you removed:

Have you recently received or sent an informal letter by regular mail? I don't mean an official letter[STRIKE],[/STRIKE] which, from time to time, all of us receive from and send to various institutions. I mean an informal letter to communicate with our family or friends.

I added the comma there to make the meaning of the which-clause non-restrictive. The adjective official is essential, describing what kind of letter I mean: it is the official letter. But what follows after which is non-essential, so I barely add the information that all of us, from time to time, receive official letters from and send to various institutions. This information does not define the official letter. Shouldn't, thus, we use the comma before which?

Thanks,
nyggus

 

[teechar]

Yes, you're right; that comma is better where it was originally. I just saw the "from time to time" as parenthetical and decided to move it.

 

[nyggus]

In this sentence:

I know, I know: You're wondering how come I'm sure they liked reading the letter.

you changed upper case Y to lower case y. I know many people start sentences after a colon with upper case, so, at first, I wanted to ask you whether there is any rule for this usage. But I learned that "According to APA Style, the first word after the colon is capitalized only if it begins a complete sentence".

So, here's the info for learners who like nuances of punctuation: the above link will direct you to interesting text about capitalizing after a colon.

By the way, is what follows a colon a sentence or a clause?

 

[teechar]

It's not wrong to capitalize it since it can stand alone as a sentence. However, "Chicago style is to lowercase after a colon unless what follows consists of two or more complete sentences. Please see CMOS 6.64 for examples and exceptions."

http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/qanda/data/faq/topics/Capitalization/faq0008.html

[CMOS = Chicago Manual of Style]