Sincerely,

[Signature]

Dasha Sorokchetviortaya

Encl.: Price List (2 copies)

enclosed please find; please find enclosed; enclosed herewith; enclosed herein.

These phrases -- common in commercial and legal correspondence -- are archaic deadwood for "here are," "enclosed is," "I've enclosed," "I am enclosing," or the like. Interestingly, business-writing texts have consistently condemned the phrases since the late 19th century:

o "['Please find enclosed':] A more ridiculous use of words, it seems to me, there could not be." Richard Grant White, Every-Day English 492 (1880).

o "When you read a letter that sounds as if it were a compendium of pat expressions from some musty old letter book of the goose-quill period, do you feel that you are communing with the writer's mind? On the contrary, if you have a discerning mind, you know that you are merely getting a reflex from one who lacks taste and good mental digestion. . . . [W]hen you compose letters, beware these bromides: . . . 'inclosed please find.'" H. Cramp, Letter Writing: Business and Social 22-23 (1930).

o "Business words and expressions borrowed from an earlier generation can make your writing sound artificial and pedantic. Every letter will read like a form letter, and you will sound bored or, even worse, boring. Thinking up substitute phrases is easy if you put your mind to it. Consider some of these revisions: . . . Enclosed please find [becomes] I am enclosing." Maryann V. Piotrowski, Effective Business Writing 53 (1989).

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