Gapers Block published from April 22, 2003 to Jan. 1, 2016. The site will remain up in archive form. Please visit Third Coast Review, a new site by several GB alumni.
✶ Thank you for your readership and contributions. ✶
Monday, October 14
For the people on my A list, I sign my e-mails with a Montblanc fountain pen.
For the rest of you, a 99 cent Bic.
And for those on my s*** list, I'll use ASCII art. Really tall, bulky, Lite-Brite looking ASCII art.
Your Savior,
Jesus H. Christ
work emails always get "regards". everybody else? depends on how I know them.
I get a lot of "cheers" from the UK division, but it seems to be spreading across the company b/c it's A: foreign, and B: noncommital.
I almost always use "Thanks -" If that's just not "right," I'll use "Yours - "
Take care,
Nick
Work emails typically get "Thanks!", if I don't like the person, they just get "thanks," No happy exclamation mark for them!
I've been seeing "all the best" more and more, which is nice, I think.
I'm not a fan of just "thx". Take the 1 extra second to write it out.
My initials are "SS" but I never liked signing that due to a coworker's observation, very early in my career, that I share those initials with the Nazi SS. So, someone suggested I start going by S2 (S squared), which I did, and that stuck. So "S2" is how I usually sign my informal emails.
For more formal stuff it's "Cheers" or "Best Regards".
"x's and o's and honey nut cheerios"
"bite me hard"
Though I am not from the UK, I have adopted "Cheers" for my personal emails, and it's usually "Thanks," or "Thank you," for the work ones
Cheers.
Work: "Thanks in advance for your time."
Casual friend: "- Jasmine"
Someone I like: "xo Jasmine"
Typically, "Cheers, Naz."
For a while, in college, my friend, when presented with annoying emails from people, like chain emails and the like, would reply with his name, prefixed with "Yours in Christ."
Careful with that hammer!
-Clarke
If a 'Thanks' or "Thank you' applies, then it gets one. I never use anything lke 'regards' (I have little), sincerely (nothing sounds less sincere) or 'yours' ( I'm not yours). Although it is fun to piss of copyeditors with "Your's".
Business emails that aren't short and sweet either get a re-cap of my course of action or a 'close' at the end. I found that a salesman-like close gets a response when I need one (in writing, which could be helpful later): 'Can I get the [requesting thing] by [requested date]' or 'Do you have any questions' rather than 'We need it by [date]' or 'Let me know if you have questions'.
Your's
P
Just my name if it's a friend.
If it's some sort of business-y email stuff, use the same as I would if it were an actual letter: "Sincerely", etc.
Really good friends just get my first name initial.
most e-mails: "I can see you, fluffy"
emails to my mom "you obedient yet powerful daughter, fluffy"
work: "one day closer to death, fluffy"
Regards
i generally just end an email with my name, no regards or anything. most of my emails are pretty short, so i dont think thats too impersonal, just in keeping with the "mood". if the email is longer, or of more "importance" ill add a "thanks," or "love,".
I don't, and I'm generally annoyed when others do.
For work, I'm a big fan of nothing. Just signing my name, or sometimes not even that - my electronic signature has all that in there, and they know who its from, don't they?
Personally, I use :
Namasté,
but that's because I'm taking meditation and Reiki classes and I look to look esoteric.
Pet peeve:
"Have a great day" - what the hell do you care about my day?
"Thanks for everything" - well, that's being presumptuous, isn't it?
"Have a blessed day" - when I didn't sneeze
"yours" - no you're not. cause you write that on everyone's email, you skank
"cheers" - you're not british. nor are you cool like britons.
I'm kind of with Paul--why tell someone something if it's not true? But anyways, when I worked for a religious nonprofit I would always sign "With loving regards," (which always felt warm and fuzzy to me, but I would definitely feel really wierd getting that here in the corporate world). But now I keep it awkwardly brief and usually don't put thanks (unless there's something to thank them for). I am okay with just using first initial to sign. I find that there are few examples of decent email-writing out there to follow.
Either with "Cheers," "Respectfully yours" or just "-d"
In Hell,
A.
-j
signatures are for pretentious asshats.
Later!
Peace,
SC
Been saying that since the early 70's and still no peace in sight.
thanks,
J.
At work I sign most of my e-mails, "Enjoy, Jill" because I'm usually sending someone some research results, and hopefully they will enjoy them.
Higher ups and people in foreign offices tend to get "Regards," or if I'm begging for help, "Kind regards."
I'm trying to get out of the "Thanks, Jill " habit because a lot of times the content doesn't require a thank you, so why do that?
I am so glad that at work we're required to use the company signature. Name, job title, phone/e-mail/address contact, then the company website and disclaimer. It's huge, but it keeps me from having to write something personal.
One coworker always signs "All that's best," and it just comes across as SO insincere. Like she gives a crap about wishing me well.
In my personal life, it's just "--eep" when I sign out. Sometimes I put a little blurb underneath regarding my mood or status of what I'm doing.
--eep
slacking off
I close with "All the best" for work email and sign with my initials...
(the appended signature on the email includes full name, job title, and contact information)
Formal: "Sincerely,"
Less Formal: "Thanks,"
Informal: "Aces,"
More Informal: "~EmD"
Followed by:
"PS: Really, aren't e-mail accounts themselves for pretentious asshats?"
Dear occupant,
While it seems that the space you are currenlty wasting in this universe could be better used, it appears that this is merely a pipe dream for those of us with the brainpower to actually dream.
We wish you an early death and hope for this to occur soon.
Sucks to be you,
Printdude
Most emails:
I've got a big one.
When I had a job:
You have questions. I have answers.
I add random letters to my actual name... I don't know why.
e.g.
Cheers,
Valz
For work: Thanks, . For personal: generally some sort of "talk to you later" or nothing at all.
Though I had an old supervisor who told me that "thanks" seemed a bit harsh and she preferred I used "Best Regards" or "Sincerely", which of course, feels insincere to me. But I use it of course, because I was told to.
Man, I HATE "take care". Blech. It's up there with "best".
how about: *end transmission*
"Take care" is a bad one. It always sounded like a threat to me.
with a quote and my curent one is...
--
"I will not die an unlived life. I will not live in fear of falling or catching fire.
I choose to inhabit my days, to allow my living to open me, to make me less afraid, more accessible, to loosen my heart until it becomes a wing, a torch, a promise.
I choose to risk my significance; to live so that which comes to me as seed goes to the next as blossom and that which comes to me as blossom, goes on as fruit."
Dawna Markova
A putz that I work with closes with this quote:
By believing passionately in something that still does not exist, we create it. The nonexistent is whatever we have not sufficiently desired.
Franz Kafka
It drives me crazy. I just close with "thanks" or my initial "D".
Dino,
where do you work? cause I'd like to punch your co-worker in the face.
and Jaye - "I choose to ignore your email signoff, so as to not purge my lunch, to loosen the phlegm that holds the tuna together, until it becomes a mushy puddle under my desk. You are the wing beneath my queef".
i sign my emails with:
"simma down, fluffy. no need to get angry and violent."
I personally use "Respectfully submitted" in work emails and for personal I just use a preset bible verse.
Urban Ethos [26]
What is Chicago's "urban ethos"?
Cool Glass of... [16]
What're you drinking?
Supreme Decision [22]
What's your reaction to the Supreme Court's decision on the Affordable Care Act?
Taking it to the Streets [20]
Chicago Street Fairs: Revolting or Awesome?
I Can Be Cruel [9]
Be real: what is the meanest thing you've ever done?
Andrew / October 29, 2007 12:09 AM
Ellen asks, "Now that we've dispensed with starting our emails with "Dear..." (We have, right? I haven't seen it in a while) how do we close them? My good friends and a very few others get "Love, Ellen" They are not the problem! When closing with a simple "Thanks," is not an option, the old formal standards of Yours, Yours Truly, Sincerely , etc look odd when not on paper. Some people use "Best Wishes," Or just "Best," but those can sound like a kiss-off. Am I wrong? I've started making up my own, my favorite being "Onward," but even with that I have to weigh the risk of appearing TOO eccentric. When I feel that I am at liberty to be a bit silly, I resort to: Inevitably, Marginally, Authentically, and Yours in Obscurity.
"What are people using? "