Digital Etiquette: How Do You Sign Your Email?
And why?
The Week has a piece on this by Chris Gayomali, in descending order of their favorites, starting with "cordially" and "cheers."
"Cordially" seems stuffy and old-fashioned.
I've always been interested in who, among women, xos whom and how that's decided. I think women often wait to see if the one higher in the pecking order xos, and then will xo back.
From Gayomali's piece:
5. "Xoxo," "xo," and all derivatives What it means: Hugs and kisses. (Defining X as "kiss" goes all the way back to 1763, according to The Oxford English Dictionary.)Pros and cons: Last year, The Atlantic investigated xo's quiet invasion of the workplace lexicon: "xo is not a habit unique to 20‑somethings reared on Gossip Girl," wrote The Atlantic's Jessica Bernett and Rachel Simmons. "It has surfaced in the digital correspondence of everyone from Arianna Huffington to Nora Ephron.... In Diane Sawyer's newsroom, staffers say, the anchor uses xo so frequently that its omission can spark panic." Indeed, xo's colloquial brevity is feminizing the workplace -- for better or worse.
Typically used by: Arianna Huffington. Nora Ephron. Diane Sawyer.
(Along the lines of the Pride and Prejudice "I send no compliments to your mother," there's also always "piss off", or as a commenter there says, "Bite my shiny metal ass.")
Your sig? And your reason for using it -- or none at all?
I use r/s or Respectfully Submitted for mine, because I picked it up from a Marine Co-worker. Seems to be short, easy, and correct for most correspondence via e-mail.
spqr2008 at March 13, 2013 7:08 AM
I default to "V/R" (very respectfully" for 99 percent of them, and a six-line signature block (work), regardless. My wife gets a heart or a smiley face. Anyone else gets my first name after a dash.
Boring, I know.
Joe at March 13, 2013 7:19 AM
When contacting someone I've not written to before (especially if I'm making an inquiry) I usually use "thank you for your time." On occasions where that's not appropriate I'll go with "signed." After initial contact I usually go with a tilde before my first name. I have no idea where I picked that up.
I'm kind of gagging at the idea of signing off a letter in the workplace with Xs and Os.
~Elle
Elle at March 13, 2013 7:22 AM
It depends entirely on the recipient, and on what you want to convey. Omit needless words. Here we have the corollary: since you have to have a closing, choose it deliberately and make it work for you.
a_random_guy at March 13, 2013 7:27 AM
"Regards" if it's business from my own account, "Sincerely" if I need to make it more personal, or just my first name when I'm the most familiar with friends.
Aaron Dyer at March 13, 2013 7:32 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2013/03/13/how_do_you_sign.html#comment-3641394">comment from spqr2008Some jerk wrote me, and while I'd signed my email before I knew what a jerk he was "best wishes," I afterward signed "go away wishes."
Walter Moore posted here:
What would your suggestions be?
Amy Alkon at March 13, 2013 7:41 AM
Generally just a "Thank you" followed by my work signature block with contact info and a phone number. Mostly used for work correspondence, so it fits. Grammarians may shudder, but when I want to make it more known, I'll add a thank you as part of the closing of my message ... so it says thank you. Thank you,.
But, I do like some of the suggestions here, and I'm thinking I don't want to devalue when I'm honestly thankful for something, so I think I'm going to change it.
Er... Thank you Amy & responders!
Patrick at March 13, 2013 7:54 AM
Usually "Good Luck" after giving some advice or help. Sometimes a simple Thanks or Thanks You.
John Paulson at March 13, 2013 8:08 AM
I usually use 'Best Regards' followed by my first name and contact info. For more informal communication with folks I know, I shorten that to 'Best' and my first name and contact.
I really don't think about it very much.
railmeat at March 13, 2013 8:18 AM
At work the common practice (which I generally follow) is to start it with "Hi " and end with "Thanks" ... doesn't matter the content. If we are more familiar - say with my lead when I don't particularly need to call out to his attention, nothing at the beginning and just my first name at the end.
Examples:
Hi Joe,
blah blah
Thanks,
The Former Banker
Hi everyone, (if the email is to many people)
blah blah
Thanks, The Former Banker
or
blah blah blah
Former
The Former Banker at March 13, 2013 8:22 AM
On my work e-mail it is generally just the corporate mandated signature block. I'll throw an occasional "thanks" in as appropriate.
On my private e-mail it is:
May your days get brighter and brighter,
Just a phrase I picked up years ago, totally non-offensive. I almost never send an e-mail that I'm pissed at someone.
Jim P. at March 13, 2013 8:27 AM
The email says it's from me, what do I need a signature for?
If it's someone I want something from, like a business, I'll usually say 'Thank you' at the end and then my contact info.
nonegiven at March 13, 2013 8:42 AM
women sign "XOXO" in a professional environment, seriously?
guess we assume that the words are entirely empty and meaningless, then. Which makes the whole conversation that.
Professionally, I'm pretty much like Patrick, Jim and others... Thank you followed by a signature block...
Personal email is usually: Later, Name... Unless it's a close friend/family member, and then it's whatever sounds amusing, usually in context with the rest of the email.
SwissArmyD at March 13, 2013 8:59 AM
I have a whole suite of sigs. Formal, Informal ("Cheers"), French formal, French informal ("Amitiés"), Love from, Love from Papa.
Thunderbird has a feature allowing you to assign sigs to regular contacts -- "Love from Papa" for the daughters, and so on. Unfortunately it isn't all that reliable. More than once I've sent LOVE to a business client in error.
Check twice, send once.
Martin Blaise at March 13, 2013 9:11 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2013/03/13/how_do_you_sign.html#comment-3641454">comment from Martin BlaiseGregg once sent an email meant for me to some guy he once wrote to about some business thing in Canada. It was pretty funny. Wish I could remember the content. Those mishaps are hilarious when they aren't terrible.
Amy Alkon at March 13, 2013 9:13 AM
At work, I usually sign off with "Best regards" or if I kinda know the person, just "Best", with my name and sig block after that. Informal emails to friends, my sign off varies. V/H (victory over horseshit), "love", "Not on my watch", sometimes just my name with a tag line like "Bitchy stares from other women are the only mirror I need" or "When someone says "He's a good guy, once you get to know him", what they really mean is "He's an asshole, but you'll get used to it." or even "As I have grown older, I've learned that it's impossible to please everyone. but pissing people off is a piece of cake!" So, whatever. It mostly depends on who the recipient is and what kind of a mood I'm in.
Flynne at March 13, 2013 9:20 AM
I cringe at the thought of using "XOXO" on ANY written communication at work or my theatre company. That's more like a middle school love note and not at all business appropriate. For a friend in a casual email? Maybe, if that's the level of our relationship, but not in general.
Patrick's is pretty much my everyday work and casual non-formal email formula. It's to the point without needless words or symbols but doesn’t lose the formality and politeness that is necessary for business communication. If it's a higher level email, I use "To Whom It May Concern" and "Sincerely" or I just use their name and end with, "Signed- My name".
Some professinalism is called for in all written work communication. I want to be taken seriously, not made to look like I still play with Barbies.
Sabrina at March 13, 2013 10:31 AM
I meant the Former Bankers formula. Not Patricks. SORRY!
Sabrina at March 13, 2013 10:32 AM
"Cheers" has become pretty common in my professional emails. I think we picked it up from our British colleagues.
Astra at March 13, 2013 10:39 AM
Depends on the context. "Thanks" if I'm asking a favor or thanking for one, "Regards" as a generic, "See you soon" if I will see them soon. If they sent me a one line memo-type email, I return in kind.
NicoleK at March 13, 2013 11:27 AM
Mine? a simple:
Thanks,
Diego
I R A Darth Aggie at March 13, 2013 12:49 PM
I already put my own sig on your FB status, but I would NEVER have considered using XO or any of its variants. That is how my GRANDMOTHER would sign things to her kids/grandkids...
Dear Shannon,
I got this postcard on my trip to Australia. The dingos are cute.
XOXO,
Grandma
So, to me that is a VERY personal kind of closing - used only for people you'd actually want to kiss, although not necessarily in a romantic way.
Shannon M. Howell at March 13, 2013 12:56 PM
I use Best regards for most correspondence and Thanks for informal email.
Best regards may seem to stuffy, but when I send an email I like to be polite if I can.
Piss off might work for some letters, though I doubt I'd write them.
Wyowanderer at March 13, 2013 2:15 PM
Yeah, the xoxo in the article is just disgusting. It the feministic, passive aggressive, fake sweetness of someone smiling to your face while waiting to stab you in the back.
a_random_guy at March 13, 2013 2:16 PM
What the hell? Xoxo being used by adult women in the work place? Never appropriate. I only use that for my 13 year old dd and occasionally my dh when flirting in texts. Otherwise, it is thanks or yours.
Sheep mommy at March 13, 2013 4:05 PM
I do have to agree the xoxo is pretty much always inappropriate.
I had e-mail account/website years ago that you could put random quotes where you wanted them in your e-mail in the sig area. I liked that setup. I wish I could find it again.
Jim P. at March 13, 2013 6:52 PM
Did anyone start scanning and pick out a different word in the first line "...terrific piece at reason.com..." -- the 't' from "at" joined with the "reason" to become treason when I took a quick look at the page.
The Former Banker at March 13, 2013 8:54 PM
oops...wrong thread.
The Former Banker at March 13, 2013 8:55 PM
At work, between co-workers and people we know, we don't use any signatures. When I'm emailing to someone I don't know and asking them to do something for me, I'll usually end with "Thank you in adavnce" or some such.
Cousin Dave at March 14, 2013 7:00 AM
I like the signature lines used by John Monteleone, the luthier who made an archtop for Mark Knopfler. The signatures were so good Knopfler turned them into a song.
"Chisels are calling", "time to make sawdust".
Would that all of our lives were so intertwined with fantastically creative pursuits that it made sense to use them in our signatures.
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at March 14, 2013 2:58 PM
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