Idiom idiom
yours truly
Meaning
Used to close a note or letter.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“Yours truly, John.”
“She ended the email with 'yours truly' before sending it to the manager.”
“After pages of elegant prose, the aging diplomat signed the final letter to his former rival with a simple 'yours truly'.”
Origin
The phrase was first recorded in the late 1700s as a conventional closing for a letter. Since the mid-1800s, the expression has been used to signify I, me, or myself.
Anchors to
Last updated August 10, 2026