We know our words can pack a punch. Once something is said, it can’t really be ‘unsaid’. Treading carefully is especially important in written communication, where we’re only one typo away from alienating everyone around us. So it’s perhaps no surprise there’s a focus on the’ dos and don’ts’ of emails and messages – and that focus encompasses the one or two words we use to end an email! The innocuous sign-off has come under scrutiny and the phrases we thought were acceptable have, apparently, been doing us no favours.
Long gone are the days when you’d say ‘Yours sincerely’ if you knew the person’s surname and ‘Yours faithfully’ if you didn’t.
Speaking to the Independent, authors and etiquette and communications experts Barbara Pachter, Will Schwalbe and Aliza Licht have honed the definitive list sign-offs – but is the advice consistent and do you agree?
“Best” – In first place comes the word this word, which Pachter, Schwalbe and Licht all agreed was the least likely to cause offence!
Unless you happen to be emailing careers expert and PR director Paul MacKenizie-Cummins. As the Telegraph pointed out, MacKenizie-Cummins’ verdict on using ‘best’ was that it was part of a trend using “vulgarised and lazy” language in e-mails.
Even words like the people-pleasing “Thanks”, “Thanks again” and “Thanks so much” were advised against for not actually sounding that thankful. Kisses and hug signs didn’t go down well either with Pachter, Schwalbe and Licht. On the other end of the scale, “Yours faithfully” and “Yours sincerely” will make you sound a little stiff and formal, apparently.