Regards is the most commonly used email sign-off at work. It's occupied the top spot for many years now. And for some reason, the Regards people tend to not put a space between Regards, [comma inclusive] and their name. Why don't they just remove all the paragraphs squash up the whole fucking email into a few centimetres? Huh?
Cheers made a run for it a few years ago, but has recently retreated. I took on Cheers about 10 years ago and stuck with it. It was a bit uncomfortable at first, but I'm used to it now. Much like nicknames, you stop noticing it with overuse.
Snaps was a good idea, poorly executed.
Kind Regards and Best Regards are useful for when I'm crawling to someone I don't know. I usually use Best Regards,, unless I think the person may be religious or unkind.
Thanks is becoming more common as well but seems ironic at times, eg at the bottom of complaints.
Nasty people tend to choose the fluffiest versions. I used to work with a cranky bitch in Sydney who urged people to "Keep Smiling" but never did herself.
In a similar vein, Cold, hard people are also known to shove a Warmest before their Regards.
Sincerely is quite ok and Faithfully is fucked. I've always harboured a secret fantasy to start using Cordially.
The most radical sign-off I have ever encountered comes from a colleague here in Jakarta.
He uses "God Bless You". I kid you not.
God Bless You hangs there above his name: no comma, no fullstop ... just sits there in the air above him, pretending to be kind. Much like God.
It may seem insignificant, but imagine receiving God Bless You at the bottom of detailed, technical corporate emails. An example from today:
Please ensure you have submitted your draft proposal by COB Wednesday, or the pricing and approvals will not be completed in time.
God bless you
Vincent
It's odd. Much like God.
God bless you too, Vincent.
