5 Annoying Ways People Sign Off Emails

If you work in an office in Beirut, you probably know that the Lebanese have a penchant for email exchanges. And everyone and their grandmother needs to be cc’d on the thread.

Sometimes the most innocuous request will prompt a long-winded email and more often than not, that email will feature a sign off that will annoy you. Here are 5 of the most annoying sign offs common in Beirut:

1. “Have a blessed day”

I don’t mean to sound rude, but this just sounds weird. Unless you are a priest or some other professional representative of the divine, please stay away from this one.

2. “Thanks!”

There are two reasons why this is annoying. First, the exclamation mark! The quickest way to irritate your coworkers is to sign off your email like this. The second annoying thing is its presumptuous and premature nature; it implies that the request you made in your email is on its way to being completed.

3. Cheers,

This one is the most confusing of all. When did the Lebanese become British? Last I checked, Lebanon was under the French Mandate. ‘Cheers’ is and should be a way to clink glasses and chug alcohol. It has no place in my emails.

4. All the best,

In general, the more words an email sign-off has, the more annoying. If you use ‘Best’ and the person you are writing to responds with ‘All the Best’ if feels as if they are one-upping, you. Not cool.

5. Sincerely,

Unless you are writing a cover letter for a job, there is no reason to use this Jane Austen-esque word to sign off your email. It’s very outdated and boring.