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Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2009Origins of the phrase "Gentlemen: Yours to hand, and, In reply......."
Hello All, What are origins and meaning of the following phrase: "Gentlemen: Yours to hand, and, In reply ....." For usage see: http://www.historycooperative.org/btw/Vol.3/html/388.html http://snurl.com/9mx6v Thanks Saqib http://doctrina.wordpress.com/ > Hello All, > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > http://www.historycooperative.org/btw/Vol.3/html/388.html > http://snurl.com/9mx6v "Yours to hand" is, I think, very old-fashioned English, from the days when formality and formulas were common and required in polite business communication. (Nowadays, simple, clear and unadorned language saves time and keeps personal matters out of business matters.) Your link is to a letter written in 1894. It means "I have your letter right here beside me (to hand, at hand), and in reply. . ." Openings and closings "greetings and salutations" were also very formalized formulas. >> Hello All, >> [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > "Yours to hand" is, I think, very old-fashioned English, That, certainly, and not very classy even when it was current. It was mainly confined to commercial correspondence. athel Thank you all for the responses. I have summed up the responses and posted them at the following URL with appropriate credits. http://doctrina.wordpress.com/2009/01/08/origins-of-the-phrase-gentlemen-yours-t o-hand-and-in-reply/ I am still looking for the origins of the phrase i.e. who first used etc.... In article <399d224a-e860-4fde-ac29-262f98a40193@d36g2000prf.googlegroups.com>, > Thank you all for the responses. I have summed up the responses and > posted them at the following URL with appropriate credits. [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > I am still looking for the origins of the phrase i.e. who first used > etc.... I doubt a definitive first use will be possible to find; the expression is likely to have formed by gradual 'erosion' of a longer conventional phrase. Such phrases are prone to abbreviation because of their familiarity; take for example the conventional parting greeting "God be with you", which has become "good-bye" or even just "'bye".  SignatureOdysseus >Hello All, > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >http://www.historycooperative.org/btw/Vol.3/html/388.html >http://snurl.com/9mx6v In this context "Yours" means "your letter", that is, the letter you sent. "to hand" means: within reach, accessible, at hand. "at hand" means: within easy reach; near; close by In the case of a letter it means that the person has received it. So "Yours to hand, and, In reply ....." means "I have received your letter and in reply to it..." SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.english.usage) Pat and Peter, Thanks for the replies. They were very helpful. Do you know of other letters and writings online that use the phrase? Google search did not return much. Saqib http://doctrina.wordpress.com/ > Pat and Peter, > > Thanks for the replies. They were very helpful. Do you know of other > letters and writings online that use the phrase? Google search did not > return much. Why would you want to find other examples of that phrase? Daniel Defoe lamented poor business language back in the 18th century, and this site (you can page forward and backward to see his problems with flowery and indirect speech http://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals/article/53376279_5.html ). Most exemplars of real letters from the 18th and 19th centuries exist in university and museum collections. Do you have access to some uni libraries? Beyond that, I can only suggest that you read a few Victorian novels, (Dickens, I think, had some lawyer letters in a few novels.) Someone may be able to provide you with sites that have the text of some classical works published on the internet. > Hello All, > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > http://www.historycooperative.org/btw/Vol.3/html/388.html > http://snurl.com/9mx6v Think of it as pressing the "reply to sender" button in Outlook. It is a a "meta-description" concerning the circumstances of replying to a letter. where yuo have to (manually) indicate that it is a reply to a letter, and that the letter is actually somethig you have received, not only heaad about, e.g. from your family, a correspondent, a business associate etc., so that the recipient knows that you know the exact text of the message. HTH, MVH, T |
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