I used AI to generate this title because I am hopeless at writing catchy ones

How to Decode the Secret Language of Email Signatures

Find out what people really mean when they write “Regards”

Who knew that Scrabble only contains one letter Y? Photo by author.

A survey published this week predicts that “Yours sincerely” will be extinct in the next ten years. Apparently, it makes you sound like a 150-year-old, pining for the good old Victorian days.

It seems that the way people communicate in the workplace is changing, and informality is the way to go.

It made me reflect on how I choose to sign-off in emails, and I discovered that mine all contain a hidden message.

I have decided to reveal my secret code:

Regards. Translation = I have no regard for you at all. In fact, I think you are an idiot.

Looking forward to hearing from you. Translation = Could you please get off your backside because I needed this information YESTERDAY.

In kindness. Translation = You’ve got it wrong, and I am just being honest and pointing it out. I don’t want to offend you, but realise that you will probably take it the wrong way.

A. Translation = I’m busy, and I don’t know you well enough or like you enough to…