😂
More fun content on address terms in intercultural communication:
“What’s otoosan’s name?”
How (not) to address airline passengers

Thanks for the insightful comment, Mr Jones! 🙂
I find it genuinely interesting that seemingly simple choices can reveal so much. I guess there are some places where you might prefer to be addressed by your first name. Personally, I always prefer my first name, as it sometimes feels like I am in big trouble if someone calls me “Ms Kim”, haha.

Thanks a lot, Laura (If I may 😊) and Sunjoo is perfectly fine for me 🙂
Keeping the balance seems to be key! I don’t want to sound too distant, but also want to be formal. That’s when things get complicated and I end up spending more time on the very first line of the email than the rest, haha. Next time, I will definitely try this “if I may” strategy!

G’day Dr Piller. Communication across languages is always tricky, but can be fun. I tend to go with the more formal usages until I get a more informal response. However, I remember getting emails from a Spanish contact some years back who signed off with “QBSP” and his name. I looked it up and found it is an old acronym that stands for “quien besa sus pies” – “who kisses your feet”. I eventually figured out it was just him being comical, like another friend of mine in Italy who regularly greets people in person with “Bacio le mani” – “I kiss your hands”. Hilarious. On the other hand, a Canadian contact who I addressed an email to with “Hi” and his name wrote back “G’day Michael”. So I have combined that with your preference for using your title, just for a laugh of course.

I’ve long used ‘Dear firstname (if I may)’ but the older I get I find that it’s no longer necessarily treated as an invitation to reciprocate … in Germany the hashtag #gerneperdu (something like ‘happy to use the informal form of address’) is becoming popular in e-mail signatures and on introduction (but more senior person has to initiate, as far as I can see)

The variety even within English can be quite tricky too, as you note. I don’t mind the approach I’ve observed from some UK-based professionals when emailing me for the first time. They somehow balance not being too formal but also not being too informal by opting for a “Dear Laura (if I may)” … I’ve yet to try it myself, but it does seem like a good strategy when approaching a new contact!

Of course, when working across languages, things take on a whole different level of complexity, so congratulations again for your research!!

Thanks, Michael! Medical contexts, particularly hospitals, are another example. There, I really flaunt my title because it makes it more likely to be treated like a competent adult …