4 ms·

Most of us rarely write such formal letters. I don't remember when is the last time I've written something as formal for a Finnish recipient. At school I was t

Most of us rarely write such formal letters. I don't remember when is the last time I've written something as formal for a Finnish recipient. At school I was taught to use "Dear Sir or Madam" or "To whom it may concern" but neither of those sound natural, they're just learned. If writing for a Finn, I just start with "Hei" ("Hey") (in fact that has lead me to start emails in English with just "Hey" as well). I may have used some other formality once or twice in my life when it was required for school or such matters but not as an adult. So it may be that they were out of their element when writing that email and just put the first thing that came to their mind.

Symbiote 7y ago
"Hei" means "hi". You can use that in your email. English "hey" is said when someone is annoyed. "Hey you! Stop that!"
- pbhjpbhj 7y ago
  Hmm, tone is what differentiates the greeting and the admonishment. Your 2nd sentence is correct, but not exclusively. TL;DR I use "hey" as a greeting. [en-gb native]
  - ljcn 7y ago
    > "hey" as a greeting I blame the US TV series "Friends" for that. Curiously the OED doesn't (yet) have this greeting sense.
    - OJFord 7y ago
      > Curiously the OED doesn't (yet) have this greeting sense. Interesting, neither does my (more liberally accepting than Oxford) 2016 Collins. I've certainly been using it as an informal greeting since '00s. I don't know if I got it from Friends, it wouldn't have occurred to me, but I did start watching it around that time so it's certainly plausible.
  - OJFord 7y ago
    But it's very informal/slang, used among peers. e.g. If I answered the phone to an unknown caller I'd say 'Hello?', but a friend might get a 'Hey.' I certainly wouldn't say 'Hey IANA, please reserve me port 22' any more than I would sign off 'kthxbye'. [also en-gb native]
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- justusthane 7y ago
  Hey is not exclusively used when annoyed. It's very commonly used as an informal greeting.

Symbiote 7y ago

"Hei" means "hi". You can use that in your email. English "hey" is said when someone is annoyed. "Hey you! Stop that!"

pbhjpbhj 7y ago
Hmm, tone is what differentiates the greeting and the admonishment. Your 2nd sentence is correct, but not exclusively. TL;DR I use "hey" as a greeting. [en-gb native]
- ljcn 7y ago
  > "hey" as a greeting I blame the US TV series "Friends" for that. Curiously the OED doesn't (yet) have this greeting sense.
  - OJFord 7y ago
    > Curiously the OED doesn't (yet) have this greeting sense. Interesting, neither does my (more liberally accepting than Oxford) 2016 Collins. I've certainly been using it as an informal greeting since '00s. I don't know if I got it from Friends, it wouldn't have occurred to me, but I did start watching it around that time so it's certainly plausible.
- OJFord 7y ago
  But it's very informal/slang, used among peers. e.g. If I answered the phone to an unknown caller I'd say 'Hello?', but a friend might get a 'Hey.' I certainly wouldn't say 'Hey IANA, please reserve me port 22' any more than I would sign off 'kthxbye'. [also en-gb native]
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
justusthane 7y ago
Hey is not exclusively used when annoyed. It's very commonly used as an informal greeting.