A
andersxman
Senior Member
Denmark/danish
- Apr 5, 2006
- #1
When writing english business letters, which is the corrct abbreviation of "attention". I reckon it must be either "att" or "atn". I've always used "att", but fear that it might be a calque introduced from danish.
Thank you.
Kelly B
Curmodgeratrice
USA English
- Apr 5, 2006
- #2
You're close: Attn. In a business letter, though, you're usually better off avoiding abbreviations, and some style guides recommend leaving 'attention' out entirely.
panjandrum
Senior Member
Belfast, Ireland
English-Ireland (top end)
- Apr 5, 2006
- #3
Where were you going to put it?
We would sometimes be asked specifically to mark something for the attention of XXXXX, so that it escapes from the normal jumble of mail-sorting and gets to the recipient directly.
Such items are always addressed FAO Mr Brown, much to my amusement.
R
raftor
New Member
India - English
- Apr 17, 2012
- #4
Hello Everyone,
Can someone please tell me what the acronym Att: stands for when it is used in emails and is immediately followed by the recipient's name.
Example:
Att: John Phillips
Thanks in advance
L
LilianaB
Banned
US New York
Lithuanian
- Apr 17, 2012
- #5
It means attention.
sdgraham
Senior Member
Oregon, USA
USA English
- Apr 17, 2012
- #6
Att: is not an acronym, it's an abbreviation.
It does indeed mean "Attention:" (The British are likely to say "FTAO" - For the attention of"
Hau Ruck
Senior Member
United States - Midwest
English - U.S.
- Apr 17, 2012
- #7
Usually it's written as "attn./Attn."
Andygc
Senior Member
Devon
British English
- Apr 17, 2012
- #8
sdgraham said:
Att: is not an acronym, it's an abbreviation.
It does indeed mean "Attention:" (The British are likely to say "FTAO" - For the attention of"
Not this Brit. I might use Attn:
E
Egmont
Senior Member
Massachusetts, U.S.
English - U.S.
- Apr 17, 2012
- #9
"Attn" (or one of the other versions) is used when you send mail to a company, but you think a specific person is the right person to read it. This form of addressing makes it clear that it is business mail, not personal mail. If that person is not available - perhaps he has left the company, perhaps she just began a two-month trek through Nepal - another person can open the letter without fear of reading anything private.
ewie
Senior Member
Manchester
English English
- Apr 17, 2012
- #10
sdgraham said:
The British are likely to say "FTAO" - For the attention of"
Me neither ~ I'd write FAO
pwmeek
Senior Member
SE Michigan, USA
English - American
- Apr 18, 2012
- #11
In AE it is properly written on envelopes as the first line of the address block. (formerly seen several lines below the return address, left-aligned with it)
It is normally written with a colon: Attn: John Smith
In a business letter itself, it would appear thus:
<sender's address block>
<date>
<recipient's address block>
Attention: (or Attn: ) John Smith (or Attention:/Attn: Sales department)
Dear Mr. Smith:
<body of letter>
Andygc
Senior Member
Devon
British English
- Apr 18, 2012
- #12
pwmeek said:
In AE it is properly written on envelopes as the first line of the address block.
I'd expect it on the second line like this:
Wordgames Ltd
(Attn: Mr F Smith)
<rest of the address>
Copyright
Member Emeritus
Penang
American English
- Apr 18, 2012
- #13
Andygc said:
I'd expect it on the second line like this:
Wordgames Ltd
(Attn: Mr F Smith)
<rest of the address>
I think in the US, we would never do that. I subscribe to the pwmeek style.
pwmeek
Senior Member
SE Michigan, USA
English - American
- Apr 18, 2012
- #14
Copyright said:
I think in the US, we would never do that.
Not my style. I have (up until yesterday) put it on the second line as Andygc showed. It was research for this thread that taught me better. I had to completely rewrite my first draft of the post.
As the US Postal Service says: from top to the bottom you go from the smallest to the largest. So, the "Attn:" line goes at the top.
Side note: It is important for the City State Zip line to be the bottom-most, and for it to be formatted "City, ST 12345-6789" and have nothing below it, as this is what the automatic scanners are looking for. If a person has to enter the Zip Code by hand (or worse, enter the city and state by hand to look up the Zip Code) it can add a day or two to delivery time. The PO would prefer ALL CAPS (whether typed or hand-written), but realizes that there would be a lot of resistance to this, as people much prefer the usual combination of upper and lower-case letters.
U
UU1
New Member
Russian -Canada
- Nov 3, 2015
- #15
andersxman said:
When writing english business letters, which is the corrct abbreviation of "attention". I reckon it must be either "att" or "atn". I've always used "att", but fear that it might be a calque introduced from danish.
Thank you.
In another forum, I saw suggestion that will be properly use ATT. for attachment and ATTS. for Attachments . After Reading all previous post and because I don't want to mix attention and attachment, I will probably stick to:
Attn. /attn. or Attention: for attention ( Canada, US) ,
FTAO or Attn: for UK
ATT. attachment Atts. attachments ,
Enc . Enclosures “
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