We need consistency here. We should either be writing "Best" and "Kind", or "Wishes" and "Regards". Who's with me?
Anyway, it all gets a bit tricky with e-mails doesn't it? I have also noticed more and more people not ending with anything. I suppose if you're going back and forth over a matter, it becomes a little awkward to start and end each exchange with a salutation and a sign off. Even my mother sometimes just writes a sentence in response to something I've said. (My how standards are slipping.)
Then there's the whole "tone" thing. Written communication is a bugger for being misinterpreted, and a one liner especially so. That's when we have to reach for the dreaded emoticon (obviously not in a formal e-mail) or the inane LOL, on the end - just to show the recipient that you're not is a massive sulk. Incidentally, how many years did it take you to realize that people meant "Laughing out Loud" instead of "Lots of Love"? There's a great text story about a mother who texted her entire family -
"Just wanted to tell you that Aunt Ruby passed away on Tuesday. LOL".
If I'm piling on the Brit thing I sometimes sign off with Cheers, but more often I end mine with "Many thanks" for some reason. It's not that I'm always asking people to do stuff for me, it just seems appropriate. Of course, I will now have to make sure I'm not coming across as too subservient and needy.
Sigh. If only we all wrote on lovely paper, with fountain pens and proper grammar. Life would be much simpler.
