Does anyone else hate the 'Regards' signature

[Ticklishchap]

I have to get this one off my chest! More and more often over the past few years, I have had work-related emails and sometimes even letters that close with 'Regards' or sometimes variants such as 'Kind' or 'Best' Regards, or 'Warm'/'Warmest' Regards. In the latter case, it's as if the heat level somehow mitigates the meanness and carelessness of the 'Regards' signature.

What happened to the professional but civilized 'Best Wishes'? Or the business-like but polite 'Yours sincerely'? Or simply 'Yours' for that matter? Surely these pleasantries oil the wheels of business. You only have to say the word 'Regards' to realise how harsh it sounds - bit like 'gargle', 'gargoyle' or 'guard'.

'Regards' even slips from the business into the social arena. One of my neighbours uses it and a couple of years ago a person I considered a good friend (and whom I had helped out a couple of times) signed a postcard 'Regards, David': I have never felt the same way about him since. The signature sounds old-fashioned, but in a negative sense, like Dickens's Uriah Heep or Mr Pooter in 'Diary of a Nobody'.

Do any of you feel similarly? Or will any of you rise to the defence of the 'Regards' signature?

Incandescent Regards/Best Wishes,
Aidan

 

[Stanley Doble]

I like Regards or Best Regards. Hate Cheers.

 

[Ticklishchap]

I like Regards or Best Regards. Hate Cheers.

I can't believe someone's actually defended 'Regards' or 'Best Regards'. They sound so petty bourgeois - the sort of phrases used by a sales rep with a comb-over hairstyle and a cheap blazer. And yet they seem so common now - common in the sense of frequent, that is.

I don't mind cheers if it's a friend, but if it's business or formal then the correct signatures are Yours, Yours sincerely or Best wishes.

 

[Justin B]

I don't mind regards. It's a sort of bland signature, neither good nor bad. I'd use it for those sort I do not pass my "Best wishes" to and that I am most certainly not "theirs", sincerely or not.

 

[AntonAAK]

It needs to be typed with caution. A friend of mine once signed off a work email to her senior management team 'Retards'....

 

[Ticklishchap]

I don't mind regards. It's a sort of bland signature, neither good nor bad. I'd use it for those sort I do not pass my "Best wishes" to and that I am most certainly not "theirs", sincerely or not.

I still thinks it sounds very harsh and off-putting. Certainly, when I'm thinking of working with someone, it counts against them (not always conclusively but initially) if they use the 'Regards' signature. In the UK context, it smacks of minor clerical or petty officialdom.

 

[scotrace]

I think you're odd man out. "Regards" and its variants are a business standard here in the states. I sometimes see "Best Wishes," and that is fine as well. "Sincerely" reads, to me, like the letter has been written for a grammar school letter writing assignment. "Yours" is perhaps best reserved for personal communication.


I remain, as ever, with warmest personal regards and best wishes,
Scotrace.

 

[Ticklishchap]

It needs to be typed with caution. A friend of mine once signed off a work email to her senior management team 'Retards'....

I like it! Best to avoid typing the word at all. ... I wonder if anyone can explain why it seems to be so frequent these days. Perhaps it's just a sign of more generalised naff-ness.

 

[gtdean48]

I did not use or see "Best Regards/Regards" until I was working with more European & India-based colleagues.
I took it as their form of Sincerely...and a little more personal.
All business communications should be sincere, right?

 

[sheeplady]

I like Regards better than Cheers. There's nothing like reading an email that has bad news and it's signed with "cheers." Cheers should be for toasting or for something that is personal in nature as a signoff.

I use thanks in my email signature.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Then there's people who draw smiley faces on their correspondence regardless of the content and appropriateness.

"Dear Ms Smith

I regret to inform you that your mother passed away last night

Cheers "

:doh:

 

[LizzieMaine]

I like Regards better than Cheers. There's nothing like reading an email that has bad news and it's signed with "cheers." Cheers should be for toasting or for something that is personal in nature as a signoff.

I use thanks in my email signature.

I don't mind "cheers" if the cheerer is British, but it's affected coming from an American.

I use "Sincerely" in a business letter, because a business letter is supposed to be businesslike. It's not supposed to be a statement of your personality, and "Sincerely" wraps up the statement in a sincere, simple manner.

 

[Metatron]

'Regards' even slips from the business into the social arena. One of my neighbours uses it and a couple of years ago a person I considered a good friend (and whom I had helped out a couple of times) signed a postcard 'Regards, David': I have never felt the same way about him since. The signature sounds old-fashioned, but in a negative sense, like Dickens's Uriah Heep or Mr Pooter in 'Diary of a Nobody'.

Isn't that a bit much?
People juggle with their friends and acquaintances perceptions of tact and etiquette daily, even without this type of nitpicking.
I say, substance is more important than form in communication.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

I just don't really see why 'regards'..or 'best regards' is anything to hate. The one that seems so bland to me is someone signing off with 'later'.
Later
HD

 

[HudsonHawk]

"Regards" or "Best Regards" is standard for informal business (emails, memos, etc) communication throughout the US, the Middle East and Asia. I could never take someone who says "cheers" in a business setting seriously unless it was in conjunction with them offering me a drink.

If you're willing to dismiss a friendship with someone because they used it, you weren't much of a friend in the first place.

 

[Zombie_61]

As long as the communication itself conveys the relevant and necessary information and the signature is contextually appropriate, I don't particularly care what the signature is as long as it has no negative connotations, isn't completely unprofessional or overly familiar, and doesn't make the author sound like a complete moron (i.e., something like "Peace out, Dawg").

Words or phrases like "Regards", "Sincerely", "Best wishes", "All the best", etc., are quite common here in the U.S., so I simply accept them for what they are without really giving the matter a second thought. In the grand scheme of things, I have larger issues to concern myself with.

 

[BladeOfAnduril]

:behindsofa:

Sorry... I've used "Best Regards" for a while in my signature. I always found it to be a balance between the too personal "Yours" and the too formal "Sincerely", but I guess I interpret them differently than others. I suppose "Best wishes" is a good option though.

 

[sal]

I agree with Scotrace. Seems to be business standard in my area of the states. I certainly see it frequently in my line of work, healthcare.

 

[GHT]

Have to agree with Metatron, either you are nitpicking or it's a wind up. In letter writing I sign off with the formal: Yours faithfully or, if we are acquainted, Yours sincerely. E-mails I can't be arsed with. But with texts, it seems nobody wants to address the recipient, or, sign off. For texts I address with Hi ... and sign of with: Kind regards. It's a sight better than being ignorant. Cheers, I loathe, unless used in context.
I remain, Sir.
Your obediant servant.

 

[3fingers]

I do a fair amount of emailing at work. I don't pay a lot of mind to the signatures of others. Although I do have one fellow who just uses Best. Best what? It isn't something to be angry about. In fact I have always been somewhat amused by it. The end line of my email contains the thank you or whatever is appropriate. My "canned" signature is simply my name and contact information.