Quizzes & Puzzles5 mins ago
Signing Off - What Do You Say?
50 Answers
The TIA post prompts this.
What do you say at the bottom of an email, for informal business or to someone you don't know well?
I usually say "many thanks" - which doesn't really mean anything, just "thanks for reading this", I guess.
I have a huge dislike of "Kind Regards" - what the devil does that mean? I know several people who use it (or KR), and it always winds me up....
What do you say at the bottom of an email, for informal business or to someone you don't know well?
I usually say "many thanks" - which doesn't really mean anything, just "thanks for reading this", I guess.
I have a huge dislike of "Kind Regards" - what the devil does that mean? I know several people who use it (or KR), and it always winds me up....
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to someone I don't know, and when I'm initiating the correspondence, I say "sincerely", much as I would in a letter. For subsequent emails in the same correspondence I'd be guided by what the recipient says. I keep "Best wishes" and "Cheers" for very informal correspondence with people I know or I have corresponded with before.
As to what "kind regards" means, it means "this is a fairly formal discussion but this is not the initial email". If you want a literal translation, it's something like "I regard you, or your email, kindly" - but the real significance is the sort of thing you're talking about: it marks the degree of formality/friendliness of the people involved in the correspondence.
As to what "kind regards" means, it means "this is a fairly formal discussion but this is not the initial email". If you want a literal translation, it's something like "I regard you, or your email, kindly" - but the real significance is the sort of thing you're talking about: it marks the degree of formality/friendliness of the people involved in the correspondence.
Yours etc is (IMO) far too formal. Im my secretarial days, letters beginning Dear Mr Bloggs were signed Yours Sincerely, letters addressed Dear Sir(s) were signed Yours Faithfully.
I do still use those forms when writing formal emails (e.g. a covering email on a job application or similar) but somce emails have so often replaced the formal written letter these days, I see formality creeping in to a lot of them. I too see no need for Dear Jim etc - on friends' emails, everyone seems to write "Hi Mary" - Hi seems universal. It's the winding up which seems to vary - and that KR really gets to me.
I do still use those forms when writing formal emails (e.g. a covering email on a job application or similar) but somce emails have so often replaced the formal written letter these days, I see formality creeping in to a lot of them. I too see no need for Dear Jim etc - on friends' emails, everyone seems to write "Hi Mary" - Hi seems universal. It's the winding up which seems to vary - and that KR really gets to me.
