"v/r" In A Business Email? - Straight Dope Message Board

"v/r" in a business email? Factual Questions Bear_Nenno February 3, 2004, 9:51pm 1

OK, so I got an email today that went something like this:

CPL NENNO,

Bla bla bla bla bla you suck bla bla bla bla.

v/r

MSG SNUFFY

What’s the v/r mean? This guy loves to be all ‘official’ n stuff.

BuckleberryFerry February 3, 2004, 10:16pm 2

My best guess is that it’s the “TO/FROM” initials, on a less formal basis. Does your first name start with V and his with an R, or vice versa?

Kymodoce February 3, 2004, 10:17pm 3

Virtual Regards?

RedNaxela February 3, 2004, 10:25pm 4

Very Respectfully?

Bear_Nenno February 3, 2004, 10:29pm 5 BuckleberryFerry:

My best guess is that it’s the “TO/FROM” initials, on a less formal basis. Does your first name start with V and his with an R, or vice versa?

No… I’m “B.N.” and he’s “C.B.”

UncleBill February 3, 2004, 11:07pm 6

My experince says “Very Respectfully”, as RedNaxela says.

robby February 4, 2004, 12:13am 7 Bear_Nenno:

…What’s the v/r mean? This guy loves to be all ‘official’ n stuff.

You’re a corporal in the Army, and you’ve never run across this before?

V/R = “Very Respectfully.” This salutation is properly used for a junior writing to a senior.

R/ = “Respectfully.” This salutation is used for a senior writing to a junior.

For formal writing, you should write out the salutation. The “V/R” and the “R/” are used for more informal writing, such as e-mail and handwritten notes.

R/ robby (LCDR USNR)

aerodave February 4, 2004, 12:59am 8

Interesting, though, that the email the OP received was from a senior rank.

But I get emails all the time from generals that include the same “v/r.” So I htink it’s just a common courtesy in closing.

Bear_Nenno February 4, 2004, 3:16am 9 robby:

You’re a corporal in the Army, and you’ve never run across this before?

V/R = “Very Respectfully.” This salutation is properly used for a junior writing to a senior.

R/ = “Respectfully.” This salutation is used for a senior writing to a junior.

For formal writing, you should write out the salutation. The “V/R” and the “R/” are used for more informal writing, such as e-mail and handwritten notes.

R/ robby (LCDR USNR)

Wow… then our little exchange was all messed up considering he (a MSG) closed with V/R and I closed my reply to his email with “Respectfully” - as I always do. So he should have closed with just an R/ and I should have closed with the V/R. I will keep that in mind. For now on my emails will close with “Very Respectfully” or “V/R”.

Funny thats never come up. But not too suprising sense all my emails from superiors are usually VERY informal. Like “whats up! this is what you need for next week… bla bla bla” Thanks guys!!

pronouncedlikewhite November 21, 2017, 6:19pm 10

Very Respectfully

robby November 21, 2017, 6:54pm 11 pronouncedlikewhite:

Very Respectfully

You joined this message board just to answer a question that was already correctly answered nearly 14 years ago?

Anyway, welcome to the SDMB!

Bear_Nenno November 21, 2017, 8:11pm 12

What a blast from the past…

kaylasdad99 November 22, 2017, 5:02am 13 RedNaxela:

Very Respectfully?

That.

Read the Kinsey Milhone Alphabet Mystery series. They all end in the format of a private detective’s final report at the conclusion of a case, including the closing “respectfully submitted.”

kaylasdad99 November 22, 2017, 5:03am 14 robby:

You joined this message board just to answer a question that was already correctly answered nearly 14 years ago?

Anyway, welcome to the SDMB!

Oh, crap.

bob_2 November 22, 2017, 10:45am 15

That idea didn’t last too long. All my “informal” communication tends to end with “regards”, or “best regards”.

Bullitt November 22, 2017, 11:02am 16

13 years Marine Corps, and I never saw that, v/r. Not doubting it, just never saw it. But then again we were in the field a lot, not a lot of time in garrison. And besides, reading and writing wasn’t a class many of us took.

Bullitt, Gunnery Sergeant, USMC

gnoitall November 22, 2017, 4:34pm 17

The US Air Force guide to professional communications, the Tongue and Quill (Warning: PDF), only recommends “Sincerely” as a closing, and only for a professional personal letter. Memoranda of any type (which in my experience is the primary form of on-paper communication) don’t use a closing salutation at all.

GinoC November 23, 2017, 6:45am 18

I know v/r is very commonly used in the USN. I have even seen it creeping into RCN usage in recent years.

JerrySTL November 23, 2017, 6:54pm 19

Must be a military thing. The US Air Force uses it also.

spifflog November 24, 2017, 4:02pm 20

Noted that this was answered years ago, but to clarify . . .

This is definitely a U.S. Navy thing. Juniors would close a memo, now an email of course with “Vr”, meaning Very respectfully. Seniors would close a email to a junior with an “R,” meaning respectfully. Still used today in the Navy, and was used 30 years ago when I first joined. Sometimes you’ll see a “Wr,” meaning With regard from a senior to a junior, but much less often.

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