Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[dido4]

1.Why Americans use Dear diary at the beginning when they write diaries.
For example:

Dear diary:

Today was a lucky day.

2.How to explain that?

Thank you

[Yinglish]

Here's my explanation. A diary entry is a private letter to yourself or to nobody. It's not meant for anyone else to read. Since we're taught to begin a letter with a salutation (Dear Somebody) and it makes no sense (and creepy) to address a letter to yourself, you begin a diary entry with "Dear Diary" to make it more personal. You're essentially asking the diary (a book) to keep the secret letters for you. Whoever or whatever that keeps a secret for your is "dear" to you.

Obviously, one can write a diary entry without a salutation.

[lotus]

It's rather sexist; but, when I was young, girls would write diaries and boys would write journals. Journals generally do not have salutations.


--lotus
_________________
War does not make one great --Yoda