Matthew Billingham wrote:
Just one thing... from my culture, you only use "dear" with members of the opposite *** who you know well, or close family members...
I was not aware of that. I regularly use it in a polite way and not had any troubles.
"Dear Mr so-and-so, ..."
"Dear Ms bla-bla, ..."
I believe it can at the very least also be used to address children, subordinates and village idiots. As in:
"Dear's, you must scuttle along now else there is no pudding for you this evening".
"Dear peasants, you are hereby informed that xyz has been decided for you.
"Oh deary me, what have you done this time?".
Please do the needful to enlighten me, as I should otherwise stop using "dear" to address people?
CHeers,
Julius