"Love" - the ending of the letter

Hello,
I would like to ask when and to whom can one write at the end of the letter "love"?
For instance: I wrote to my friend at the end of the letter " best wishes", and he ended his letter "love". Can it indicate that he has romantic feelings towards me? Or is it a common expression used to end letters to friends?
Thanks.

Close friends often use it. It doesn't have to mean there are romantic feelings. It's like "Dear xxxxx" at the beginning of letters. You're not necessarily saying xxxxx is near and dear to you, but rather just indicating that that's who you're addressing this letter to.

In my experience women often use this at the end of letters, men tend to use it less often. I would expect that a man using this at the end of a letter either was a) using it romantically or b) feels very close to the addressee.

You also just have to take into account the personality of the person writing. I've known people who would sign off with "Love" to just about anyone. My best friend and I have known each other for 30 years and write to each other frequently now that we're living on opposite coasts of the US, but she has never once used "Love" at the end of a letter. That's just her way. I think she reserves it for people she's *in love* with.

I can also confirm from experience that many American women use "love" or "hugs" at the end of letters or e-mails, so it may be considered by some as a "feminine" trait (I have hardly ever read letters by men signed like that). However, women in Europe (when writing in English) tend to end their letters like this less often, maybe because they are mostly like Deborah's friend, wanting to reserve their "love" to people who they are intimate with, or because it would indicate that you have an intention of getting intimate with the other person. The more common endings are the more neutral "yours", or, on a more relaxed note, "bye". And it is also more common to start letters with "Hello/Hi [+ name]" than "Dear [+ name]".

Just on a short note: German and Austrian women tend to be an exception, because they usually end even their first letters to foreigners with "Viele liebe Grüsse" ("many loving greetings"), which seems a little more intimate to me than the "Best wishes" or "Best regards" in English. Either this is because they want to avoid the somewhat formal "Mit freundlichen Grüssen" ("with friendly greetings"), or because they don't mind being perceived as friendly or casual even at the first exchange of letters.

In general, if you have to ask if "Love" is appropriate, you don't know the personal well enough to use it. Some people use it for practically all non-business letters, though, and others (including myself) never use it at all. It means what it says: you're sending your love (romantic or platonic) with the letter.

It all depends on what sort of relationship you have with the person you're writing to.....simple as that.

I use it when e-mailing/texting a lot of my girl friends but as I'm a gay guy it does not indicate anything sexual whatsoever....just a token of friendly affection. As I'm gay, I also use it for quite a lot of my male friends as well, naturally....not all of them are gay by any means. You have to know the person. As I say, it all depends on the nature of your friendship/relationship.

Love is a really nice word......it should be used more frequently..and mean something other than sex.

Except for the sending of cards for special occasions like birthdays and stuff nobody actually writes letters, do they?

"Intimacy" is also being used nowadays as an euphemism for a sexual relationship. I definitely meant it in a "platonic" sort of way...

It seems that in continental Europe most people (whether males or females) use more "emotion-neutral" endings when sending letters than native English speakers do, even if the same people probably use less "neutral" endings in their native language. And I've been warned that with Russians, it is better to use "Hello" than "Dear ..." when writing a letter, because "dear" would imply a closer relationship, in other words, it could be taken literally, and that may leave the other person a little embarrassed.

Love actually means love only. So when one says love or writes love or hears love, it conveys love and nothing else. Otherwise what do you write when you desire to express love..i mean would you write .."with best regardes"... or "yours truely"...

Again...it depends on your interpretation of the word "Love".

btw: Regardes = Regards
Truley = Truly

Nobody would use those words in any communication to a close friend and that's for sure! Not here, anyway. I cannae speak for other countries.

"Love" is just a litle bit more than "take care" It can be used by both men and women if they are really close friends. That's all.

Hi,

Met this guy early this year. He is 55, he lost his wife around May this year and now he ends his letters with "love". I am really confuse about this as i am in love with him but he doesn't know this. Just want to know if he is gradually being in love with me. I really want to make him happy. Although he starts his letters with "sweetheart" and sometimes with "darling".

If he lost his wife it's not so easy to replace her with someone else. Just give him his own time. Do you know that sometimes words as darling sweatheart or love are just polite way to say hello.

Magdallena, it really depends on who you talk to, the problem is that these days, when you take into consideration the amount of people with perverted minds, you can imagine what most people would think of if a letter ends with "love."

There is absolutely nothing wrong with ending your letter with "love" when writing to a friend, I just think perversion is driving it out of vogue. These days you dare not write a letter of devotion to a child, you could be arrested.

Did I hear someone say "what's he talking about?, I write those to my children everytime!." Well, I've got news for you, try it in five years time, I might come to visit you in prison. That is what the world is really coming to.