邮件里的客套话 你说过哪些？

20160823ou 一中两外锵锵三人行 今日话题：邮件里的客套话 你说过哪些？ Lincoln: Now there might a reason for whatever you use to sign off on your emails. It’s very likely that you use the same kind of stock phrases over and over again. That actually might be a good thing Yoyo: A recent report says that overused phrases or clichés in e-mails like ‘all the best’ or ‘best for everything’, sometimes can be more valuable than they seem to be. There is a reason that these clichés are so overused is that they do signal something. They don’t actually signal whether or not the sender is concerned whether or not you are well or not or that they are concerned. The ‘all the best’ signals I’m ending this e-mail politely and ‘I hope you’re well” signals that you are starting an e-mail politely as well. It is out of courtesy. Lincoln: So Nick what is your go-to sign off on e-mails. Nick: I’m a best wishes kind of person. Lincoln: You strike me as a ‘best wishes’ kind of person. What about you Yoyo? Yoyo: ‘Best for everything’. Lincoln: Really? ‘Best for everything’, I don’t think I’ve seen that one before… Yoyo: I’m not sending it to you of course. Lincoln: Fair enough, I walked right into that one! Yoyo: I have differing levels and degrees of courtesy in my e-mails. Nick: I don’t think we sign off emails to each other at all. Lincoln: So what are your different levels? Yoyo: The top levels are for some very important people, I would say ‘all the best, my best regards to you’ and ‘I hope everything goes on well. In Chinese I would say, ‘my best wishes in winter for you’. Nick: Let’s hope the VIPs have a lot of time to read all that. Lincoln: I’m all for ‘regards’, that’s the one that I use. If I’m feeling particularly generous it would be ‘kind regards’. I haven’t done ‘best regards’ yet because I feel like that would be too much. Yoyo: Another way to look at it is that these kinds of cliché’s in e-mails are just like daily greetings. When I meet someone I would just say ‘how are you today?’ I’m not really expecting to see how they are doing or what kind of problems is going on in their daily lives, it’s just out of courtesy. It’s just like a habit that most people will do in the morning, like ‘what’s up’ or ‘how’s everything;’ In Chinese we’d greet someone with ‘have you eaten yet’? But they don’t want to invite you to dinner or to breakfast. It’s simply out of courtesy. Lincoln: Could you imagine if everyone you gave that response to, took you up on it? If everyone you asked, ‘how are you doing’ or have you eaten,’ if every single person took you up on that, how much time that would that take out of your day. Nick: I also think that in an email as well you can always just re-phrase it as a sentence rather than a question. I would just say, ‘I hope you are well’, rather than say ‘how are you’. Yoyo: That’s a very good point from you guys. Especially when people ask how are you, you feel obligated or responsible for the answer, but Nick has a good point that you should just refuse to listen to their problems and say ‘I hope it’s going well’ don’t tell me about their problems.