When should a person use a ps in a letter? Are there rules? Should one ever use a ps when writing on a computer where the information in the ps could just be added to the body of the letter.
If the main bulk of the letter is concerning one fairly specific topic, and you have something else to say that has nothing to do with the main part, then you use the p.s. to add the off-topic thing.
Ethilrist
p.s.: what’s your user name mean?
My user name has no real meaning.
I tried to get my name—taken.
I tried to get my name plus the bowler (I had just been bowling) --taken
I tried a bunch of other user names—all taken.
So I went with this because I was sure it would be free.
My name is not TJ, 555 has no meaning, and I don’t play golf.
I think that the classic postscript has little meaning or use in computer-based communication, other than to represent a sort of respect or longing for days past. Its use was evident in the days when letters were hand-written or typewritten (“I’m not gonna rewrite this whole damn thing just because I forgot to say X or Y.”). Even using Ethilrist’s example, the “off-topic thing” can be added without a P.S., simply by tacking on a paragraph that begins, “This is a totally off-topic thing, but…”