DEAR MISS MANNERS: I have noticed that, in professional correspondence, it is common to sign a letter or email with ''Yours truly" or ''Sincerely yours." These sign-offs have always struck me as oddly intimate, even romantic, so I use ''Best regards."


GENTLE READER: How odd -- Miss Manners has been noticing the opposite. Even in business correspondence, she is now seeing breezy substitutions for the conventional salutation ("Hi!") and closing ("Best," sometimes with ''wishes" or ''regards" but more often alone).



It is not unreasonable to suppose that declaring oneself ''yours" indicates an emotional attachment, but it happens that the opposite is true. ''Yours truly" is the most businesslike sign-off, even when ''very" is thrown in, and ''Sincerely yours" is the formal closing for social correspondence when the writer is not inspired to offer something in the range from ''Affectionately yours" to ''Love and kisses." Similarly, ''Dear" is the conventional salutation, by no means indicating that the correspondent holds that person dear.



Miss Manners understands that conventions change over time. It would be startling, nowadays, to receive a letter signed by ''Your most humble and obedient servant," although in its time, that suggested neither humility nor obedience nor servitude.



It has become a big debate in my office on what is the appropriate way to handle this situation. Do you ignore them as if they were not there, or do you acknowledge their presence with a polite ''Hi"? My office is split down the middle and needs your official opinion.

