: Re: Using P.S. in a formal email I had a quick question in regards to using P.S. I just finished writing up a formal follow-up email for an interview. I touched over a lot of information and

@Barnes643

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I use P.S. in emails fairly often. As others points out, P.S. stands for postscript ("after signature") and it means the content was added after the message was signed.

However, just because technology gives you the choice of re-wording a message to avoid a postscipt, that doesn't mean you must re-word the message to avoid a postscript. You may chose to use a post-script (1) as a stylistic choice, to emphasize that the content was added as an afterthought, esp. for humorous effect; (2) if you genuinely don't have time to re-write the letter, or working the afterthought into the original flow would be too disruptive to the original message, perhaps because the afterthought is on a completely different topic. Having it as a postscripts helps draw attention to it.

It's true that emails (or word processing in general) make it easy to avoid postscripts. But just because postscripts are not required, doesn't mean that they are prohibited. They can be used as a literary device as explained in section 1381 of The Gregg Reference Manual (6th edition):

"A postscript can be effectively used to express an idea that has been
deliberately withheld from the body of a letter; stating this idea at the very end gives it strong emphasis." (emphasis mine)

Many times emails are not signed. In that case I would feel strange using a P.S.without a signature. I may use an alternate way of introducing the text such as "By The Way" or BTW or "on a different topic...." Or I would intentionally add my name to the bottom of the mail just so I can use a P.S. in a literal rather than metaphorical way.

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