Poison pen letter
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[[Image:Poison_pen.JPG|thumb|250px|An anonymous poison pen letter to a former teacher. The German text says: You ... [ass]. We are glad you are no longer teaching at our school. The letter also contained the mask pictured here.]]
A poison pen letter is a letter or note containing unpleasant, abusive or malicious statements or accusations about the recipient or a third party. It is usually sent anonymously. Poison pen letters are usually composed and sent to upset the addressee and, in some cases, maybe to make them change a course of action. The subliminal purpose, however, is to rectify a perceived wrong. Thus, from a psychological point of view, they reveal more truth about the writer than about the recipient.
With the advent of e-mail and the general decline in letter writing, poison pen letters have become something of a rarity.
See also
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