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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.
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TODAY
Friday, April 19
Fuel
mike-ts / October 29, 2007 7:01 AM
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.
pantagrapher / October 29, 2007 8:01 AM
Your Savior,
Jesus H. Christ
emily / October 29, 2007 8:28 AM
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.
Hal / October 29, 2007 9:22 AM
I almost always use "Thanks -" If that's just not "right," I'll use "Yours - "
Nick / October 29, 2007 9:27 AM
Take care,
Nick
Carrie / October 29, 2007 9:27 AM
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.
Stephen / October 29, 2007 9:28 AM
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".
kate / October 29, 2007 9:44 AM
"x's and o's and honey nut cheerios"
qwack / October 29, 2007 9:50 AM
"bite me hard"
Jo / October 29, 2007 10:01 AM
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
Andre / October 29, 2007 10:02 AM
Cheers.
jasmine / October 29, 2007 10:09 AM
Work: "Thanks in advance for your time."
Casual friend: "- Jasmine"
Someone I like: "xo Jasmine"
Naz / October 29, 2007 10:52 AM
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."
Clarke / October 29, 2007 11:46 AM
Careful with that hammer!
-Clarke
paul / October 29, 2007 11:55 AM
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
skafiend / October 29, 2007 12:07 PM
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.
fluffy / October 29, 2007 12:07 PM
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"
shermann6 / October 29, 2007 12:24 PM
Regards
mary / October 29, 2007 1:45 PM
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,".
Eamon / October 29, 2007 2:57 PM
I don't, and I'm generally annoyed when others do.
Billy / October 29, 2007 3:06 PM
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.
Lacey / October 29, 2007 4:28 PM
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.
Daniel / October 29, 2007 5:47 PM
Either with "Cheers," "Respectfully yours" or just "-d"
Amanda / October 29, 2007 6:16 PM
In Hell,
A.
jaymce / October 29, 2007 7:22 PM
-j
frankie / October 29, 2007 11:25 PM
signatures are for pretentious asshats.
Carlotta / October 30, 2007 12:16 AM
Later!
boomer / October 30, 2007 8:35 AM
Peace,
SC
Been saying that since the early 70's and still no peace in sight.
JasonB / October 30, 2007 9:05 AM
thanks,
J.
Jill / October 30, 2007 11:41 AM
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?
eep / October 30, 2007 2:34 PM
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
SR / October 30, 2007 2:45 PM
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)
Emerson Dameron / October 30, 2007 3:17 PM
Formal: "Sincerely,"
Less Formal: "Thanks,"
Informal: "Aces,"
More Informal: "~EmD"
Followed by:
"PS: Really, aren't e-mail accounts themselves for pretentious asshats?"
printdude / October 30, 2007 3:32 PM
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
Allan / October 30, 2007 4:36 PM
Most emails:
I've got a big one.
When I had a job:
You have questions. I have answers.
Val / October 30, 2007 4:43 PM
I add random letters to my actual name... I don't know why.
e.g.
Cheers,
Valz
Nicole / October 30, 2007 4:46 PM
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*
Emerson Dameron / October 30, 2007 4:53 PM
"Take care" is a bad one. It always sounded like a threat to me.
jaye / October 31, 2007 7:12 AM
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
Dino / October 31, 2007 9:03 AM
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".
fluffy / October 31, 2007 1:05 PM
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".
easy tiger / October 31, 2007 2:15 PM
i sign my emails with:
"simma down, fluffy. no need to get angry and violent."
EmpressRuthie / January 30, 2008 3:39 PM
I personally use "Respectfully submitted" in work emails and for personal I just use a preset bible verse.
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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? "