{"id":1696,"date":"2020-10-27T22:40:39","date_gmt":"2020-10-27T21:40:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.englishforums.com\/blog\/?p=1696"},"modified":"2020-10-27T22:40:39","modified_gmt":"2020-10-27T21:40:39","slug":"what-does-ps-mean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/blog\/what-does-ps-mean\/","title":{"rendered":"What does PS mean?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><em>PS<\/em><\/strong> is an <strong>afterthought<\/strong>, an abbreviation, which stands for <em>Postscript<\/em>. <em>Postscript<\/em> comes from the Latin word<strong> <em>Post scriptum, <\/em>which means &#8220;written after&#8221; &#8211; an afterthought.\u00a0<\/strong><br \/>\nUsually, PS comes after the written letter&#8217;s main body, a wish-well text, and a signature. And it has various uses today.<br \/>\nAlthough PS has been around for quite a long time, we can&#8217;t put the finger on an exact date we started using it, but the <strong>Online Etymology Dictionary <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.etymonline.com\/word\/postscript?ref=etymonline_crossreference\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">dates it back to the 1550s.<\/a><br \/>\nIndeed, <strong>PS doesn&#8217;t have exact synonyms<\/strong>, but we will still try to give you words that carry the same definition:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Addendum<\/li>\n<li>Addition<\/li>\n<li>Afterthought<\/li>\n<li>Stop press<\/li>\n<li>Afterword<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In this article, you&#8217;ll get to know more about how to use PS correctly. Anyways, you can always ask a professional <a href=\"https:\/\/termpapereasy.com\" rel=\"dofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">paper writing service<\/a> to help you with your writings.<\/p>\n<h2>How to use PS?<\/h2>\n<p>While writing (or typing) a letter, an afterthought might occur. We can emphasize it by adding it as a PS after the signature. Sometimes, people even use PS to include a funny or witty comment after a letter.<br \/>\n<strong>Example<\/strong>:<br \/>\n<em>&#8220;PS. Don&#8217;t forget your coat; it&#8217;s cold outside.&#8221;\u00a0<\/em><br \/>\n<strong>In general<\/strong>, PS is an amazing tool used for various reasons.<\/p>\n<h3>Use PS in the email<\/h3>\n<p>You might think to yourself, <em>&#8220;why do I need to add an afterthought when I can just go back and edit the text?&#8221;<\/em><br \/>\nAnd you&#8217;ll be right to come up with that idea, but <a href=\"https:\/\/writing.stackexchange.com\/questions\/2771\/is-p-s-post-script-still-useful-in-the-age-of-email\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">PS is a helpful tool to emphasize important information<\/a>. Please don&#8217;t throw it away altogether.<br \/>\n<strong>Example<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>&#8220;Hi, Amelia,\u00a0<\/em><br \/>\n<em>I&#8217;m so happy we had a chance to go out and have lunch. I had fun and learned so much about writing formal and informal emails.\u00a0<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Sorry, I had to run so fast, my flight was moved unexpectedly, and I didn&#8217;t even have time to say a proper goodbye.\u00a0<\/em><br \/>\n<em>It would be nice to repeat our lunch once I&#8217;m in the city again. What do you think?\u00a0<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Sincerely,<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Emily<\/em><br \/>\n<em>P.S. Remind me to bring you the book I promised. &#8220;<\/em><br \/>\n<strong>In this example, <\/strong>Emily added a PS at the end of her letter so that Amelia can remind her to bring the book she promised her.<br \/>\nFor Emily, <strong>this PS is a method to emphasize something important <\/strong>that would otherwise be lost in the letter&#8217;s main body.<br \/>\nPS is an amazing way to drag our attention to the specific content. <strong>Think about it, have you ever missed any PS in the letters you&#8217;ve read?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3>Format and punctuate PS<\/h3>\n<p><em>Is it PS or ps? Should I write P.S. or PS?\u00a0<\/em><br \/>\nUgh! Questions like this bugged me every time I had to write PS in my letters or articles.<br \/>\nAfter thorough research and consultation with The Cambridge Dictionary about<a href=\"https:\/\/dictionary.cambridge.org\/us\/dictionary\/english\/ps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> how to format and punctuate PS<\/a>, this is what I can tell you:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Write PS if you&#8217;re writing in <strong>British English\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Write P.S. if you&#8217;re writing in<strong> American English\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Just remember<\/strong> to capitalize both letters (abbreviations usually need capitalization). Now, you might come around written British English with the usage of P.S and vice versa, but don&#8217;t worry &#8211; it&#8217;s a personal preference for some writers.<br \/>\nIt helps if you <strong>choose whichever format you like<\/strong> and don&#8217;t mind the other.<\/p>\n<h2>Why do we need to use PS now?<\/h2>\n<p>Typewriters are romantic and vintage, but rarely anybody uses them today. Back when people didn&#8217;t have computers, internet, and email addresses, they wrote on typewriters, which didn&#8217;t have the backspace key.<br \/>\nBecause people couldn&#8217;t just jump into the middle of the text and edit it or add something, they had to <strong>either rewrite the letter or add an afterthought &#8211; Postscript (PS).\u00a0<\/strong><br \/>\nPS was practical and even unavoidable. But we do have programs that allow us to edit text without rewriting it, <strong>so what does PS mean today?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3>Use PS to add information that is not relevant to the letter<\/h3>\n<p>We already discussed that PS could be a great tool to emphasize important information. But what about something that doesn&#8217;t belong in the letter but you still want to bring it up?<br \/>\n<strong>Example:<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>&#8220;Hi, Garry,\u00a0<\/em><br \/>\n<em>I left the documents on your table since you weren&#8217;t in your office. If you have any questions regarding the report, let me know, and we can discuss it further.\u00a0<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Sincerely,\u00a0<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Emily<\/em><br \/>\n<em>P.S. I know this is off-topic, but tell Amelia thank you for taking care of my goldfish while I was away.&#8221;<\/em><br \/>\n<strong>In this example<\/strong>, Emily is talking about a work-related subject with Garry but wanted to thank his wife (Amelia) for taking care of her goldfish. It&#8217;s an off-top, so <strong>she had to add a PS as an excuse to add that irrelevant information.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3>Use PS to leave a parting thought<\/h3>\n<p>Some thoughts are so important that you have to voice them twice. If you want to sell your opinion, give it a meaning, and use PS to express it.<br \/>\n<strong>Example<\/strong>:<br \/>\n<em>&#8220;Hi, Tom,\u00a0<\/em><br \/>\n<em>So sorry to hear that you decided to leave the project. Is there anything we can do to change your mind?<\/em><br \/>\n<em>The whole group loves your writing and how you use storytelling elements in your work. We&#8217;d be happy to discuss the details of you staying with us.\u00a0<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Sincerely,\u00a0<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Samantha<\/em><br \/>\n<em>P.S. Seriously, This could be an amazing opportunity for your professional growth and an addition to your portfolio.&#8221;\u00a0<\/em><br \/>\n<strong>In this example<\/strong>, Samantha (project manager) asks Tom (a freelancer) to reconsider leaving their project. She proceeds to add a PS to leave Tom with a parting thought about his professional development and filling his portfolio with more work.<\/p>\n<h3>Use PS to express a sentiment or be funny and witty<\/h3>\n<p>People often use PS to include an emotional sentiment or tell an inside joke, make a funny comment, etc.<br \/>\n<strong>Example #1:<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>Hi, Jeff,\u00a0<\/em><br \/>\n<em>I&#8217;m still mad at you for breaking my phone, and I&#8217;m not talking to you for a few days.\u00a0<\/em><br \/>\n<em>P.S. I still love you.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>It is<strong> a typical PS example<\/strong> that expresses emotions and sentiment. But what about a funny comment?<br \/>\n<strong>Example #2:<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>Hi, Jeff,\u00a0<\/em><br \/>\n<em>The details of the flight are in my last email. I just wanted to remind you to pack your bags before you go to bed and meet me at the lobby tomorrow morning.\u00a0<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Sincerely,\u00a0<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Emily\u00a0<\/em><br \/>\n<em>P.S. Don&#8217;t be late again, or we&#8217;ll leave without you.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>In this example<\/strong>, Emily gives Jeff important information about the flight and jokes about how the crew will leave without him if he&#8217;s late again.<\/p>\n<h3>Use PS in marketing<\/h3>\n<p>That&#8217;s right! <strong>PS is a powerful tool in marketing as well.\u00a0<\/strong><br \/>\nDo you know what CTA stands for? CTA is a call to action content that drives the audience to take action (desired by the content creator).<br \/>\nMarketers, copywriters, and others use it to promote their product, give the reader a special offer, or remind them about the sale that ends soon.<br \/>\n<strong>Example<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>Hi, Seth,\u00a0<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Here&#8217;s the catalog of our new products. You can view the full list on our website and shop as much as you like.\u00a0<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Sincerely,\u00a0<\/em><br \/>\n<em>TypicalOnlineShop<\/em><br \/>\n<em>P.S Oh, and don&#8217;t forget about your special 20% off off the first purchase.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Marketing specialists know that people only skim the letters and pay attention to the first 3-6 words and the last 3-6 words. <strong>Our mind also pays attention to the unique content <\/strong>&#8211; <strong>that&#8217;s why <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.omnisend.com\/blog\/p-s-marketing-emails\/#:~:text=(After%20the%20subject%20line%2C%20of,likely%20take%20the%20desired%20action.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>PS is such a powerful tool.\u00a0<\/strong><\/a><br \/>\n<strong>Pay attention<\/strong> to the next newsletter you get in your inbox.<\/p>\n<h2>What is PSS, PPS, PPPS, and others?<\/h2>\n<p>As if PS wasn&#8217;t enough, we have to decipher PPS, PSS, and PPPS now?<br \/>\nIt&#8217;s not as common as PS, but people sometimes use the other abbreviations <strong>if the regular PS isn&#8217;t enough.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>PPS<\/strong> &#8211; Post post scriptum<\/li>\n<li><strong>PSS<\/strong> &#8211; Post super scriptum<\/li>\n<li><strong>PPPS<\/strong> &#8211; Post post post scriptum<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You can add PPS or PSS after the regular PS to add another thought to the letter.<br \/>\n<strong>Example<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>Hi, Scot,\u00a0<\/em><br \/>\n<em>I&#8217;ve read your report and have a few questions. Can we book a call for Wednesday?\u00a0<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Thanks<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Cindy,\u00a0<\/em><br \/>\n<em>P.S. Could you let Tom and Sally on this too?\u00a0<\/em><br \/>\n<em>P.P.S And don&#8217;t forget to inform the project supervisor about the upcoming review.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><em>Not enough Post Scriptum for you? <\/em><strong><em>You can add PPPS after the PPS as well.<\/em><\/strong><em>\u00a0<\/em><br \/>\n<strong>Example<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>Hi, Scot,\u00a0<\/em><br \/>\n<em>I&#8217;ve read your report and have a few questions. Can we book a call for Wednesday?\u00a0<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Thanks<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Cindy,\u00a0<\/em><br \/>\n<em>P.S. Could you let Tom and Sally on this too?\u00a0<\/em><br \/>\n<em>P.P.S And don&#8217;t forget to inform the project supervisor about the upcoming review.<\/em><br \/>\n<em>P.P.P.S Don&#8217;t forget to send me the expenses report as well.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>It might be a bit too much,<\/strong> but some people love playing with PS.<\/p>\n<h2>What does PS mean &#8211; other meanings of the abbreviation<\/h2>\n<p>You might come across a PS that doesn&#8217;t really mean postscript. When does this happen?<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>PS &#8211; <strong>Stands for Photoshop<\/strong> &#8211; It&#8217;s an Adobe program that lets you edit and design photos and videos.<\/li>\n<li>PS &#8211; <strong>Playstation<\/strong> &#8211; It&#8217;s a Japanese video game brand. A console that you use to play video games.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Now you know everything about PS. You can share your knowledge with others and write your letters with more confidence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>PS is an afterthought, an abbreviation, which stands for Postscript. Postscript comes from the Latin word Post scriptum, which means &#8220;written after&#8221; &#8211; an afterthought.\u00a0 &#8230; <a title=\"What does PS mean?\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/blog\/what-does-ps-mean\/\" aria-label=\"More on What does PS mean?\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1713,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_generate-full-width-content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[300,305],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1696"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1696"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1696\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}