After every email or letter, we don’t just sign our names, but we have to close our letters with some kind of phrase like “Sincerely,” “Love,” or even “Thy humble servant” before we sign off. These letter closings aren’t always necessary, but they do say what kind of relationship we hope for with our correspondent.
Although one the received end of the message, it may not be what is intended.
Here, we will take a look at 20 different letter closing examples and see what most people intend and what people actually think when they see it.
Sincerely, |
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| What we intend to say: | How we receive it: |
| We literally could not think of anything more creative so we went with a safe bet that can be used in nearly any occasion. | (This is so ingrained in our letter writing that we sometimes miss it and don’t realize it was there.) |
Best, |
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| What we intend to say: | How we receive it: |
| Something that is friendlier than “Sincerely” and can be used in business settings like wearing denim pants on a Casual Friday at work. | Best… what? I realize this is an incomplete sentence fragment but at least they did not use “Sincerely.” |
Kind regards, |
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| What we intend to say: | How we receive it: |
| I’m not allowed to use foul language because my position requires that I be helpful to you; but in my demographic, we KNOW what this means. | Awww… that’s nice. …Hey, wait a minute… |
Yours Truly, |
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| What we intend to say: | How we receive it: |
| We had a really lovely interaction, and I’m even more sincere than using the word “Sincerely.” | I feel like you are either very polite or proposing marriage. |
With Much Appreciation, |
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| What we intend to say: | How we receive it: |
| We value you as a customer and want to let you know that we… appreciate you. | I appreciate that you value that I have most likely spent large sums of money on your services. |
Cordially Yours, |
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| What we intend to say: | How we receive it: |
| By definition, the word cordial means “warm and friendly” so I want to let you know this is how I want to end this letter according to a thesaurus. | This is the most formal “warm greeting” I’ve received, so it feels a little cold. |
Thank You For Your Time, |
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| What we intend to say: | How we receive it: |
| I am probably inconveniencing you to read my message so thank you for paying attention to me. | Were you trying to sell me something? |
Respectfully, |
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| What we intend to say: | How we receive it: |
| I want to show you how much I respect you by using a letter closing that sounds more important than “Sincerely.” | You sound like one of those guys that would be afraid to hold my hand on a first date. |
Cheers, |
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| What we intend to say: | How we receive it: |
| We’re very friendly! I would actually call you “Acquaintance” in front of others. Maybe even “Friend.” | We’re not drinking right now. Should we be drinking right now? |
Keep Up the Great Work, |
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| What we intend to say: | How we receive it: |
| You are most likely working for me, so I want to give you some encouragement. | I’m grateful for the compliment but how many times have you been looking over my shoulder when my work is not so good? |
Stay Awesome, |
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| What we intend to say: | How we receive it: |
| We’re friendly, informal and we can hang out at a bar sometime. | Did you just call me “Dude?” |
XOXO, |
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| What we intend to say: | How we receive it: |
| I feel close enough to give you hugs and kisses, and if I have a crush on you, this is the closest I will ever get to this for now. | Ummm… unless this is family, close friends or partner, this is weird and may need to block you from social media if you become inappropriate. |
Take Care, |
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| What we intend to say: | How we receive it: |
| I want to show that we’re informal and friendly and we’ll see each other some time. | Wow… that’s what you say to someone when you don’t intend to see them again for a while. |
Until Next Time, |
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| What we intend to say: | How we receive it: |
| We will talk again soon, but goodbye for now. | Unlike “Take care,” you intend on “next time” so there better be one! |
To Your Continued Success, |
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| What we intend to say: | How we receive it: |
| I feel you are doing well and I want to acknowledge that OR I am flattering you because who doesn’t want success? | I’m not on the magazine cover of Fortune 500, and if I have imposter syndrome, you have now triggered it. |
Smiles, |
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| What we intend to say: | How we receive it: |
| I want to transmit to you a smile that is warm and friendly. | You sent me an emoji, except that you typed out the word and I don’t know how to feel about this. |
Your Pal, |
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| What we intend to say: | How we receive it: |
| I want to show you how close we are. You’re not just a friend, you’re a close confidante. | You sound like you’re ten years old. And from the 1950s. |
Godspeed, |
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| What we intend to say: | How we receive it: |
| I want to show you a unique and fun way to end this letter. And imply that I read lots of old books. | You sound like you’re sixty years old. And from the 1500s. |
Wishing you the best, |
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| What we intend to say: | How we receive it: |
| I wish you the best. | You are wishing me the best. |
Wishing you the best,
Staff writer of Rocking Mama blog
