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2010-10-09 20:34:12
目录
这是一篇在《金融时报》（Financial Times, 2010-1-27）上的专栏文章，讨论如何在英文电子邮件中写结束语。文章中有专栏主持人Lucy的回答，也有其他读者的建议。这里采用中英文对照的方式，一段中文、一段英文原文，并附部分单词和表达方式的注释。
最近，我刚从一家十分传统的银行换到另一家规范约束少得多的商业银行工作。这家商业银行鼓励以一种亲近、友好的方式来处理工作。在大多数情况下，我感到很适应这里的工作氛围。但是，我仍然感觉我电子邮件中使用的口吻不是很恰当。我正在寻找可用于工作交往电子邮件中使用的结束语（sign-off）。它应当是简短的，甚至就一个字。应当不如“regards”那么正式，但是也不象“cheers”或者“best”那么过于亲近。您有什么建议吗？
银行家，男，46
Question: Is it naff[] to sign off an e-mail with 'cheers' or 'best'?
I have recently moved jobs from a fairly traditional bank to a much less formal commercial bank, where the friendly approach to business is encouraged. In most regards, I feel I am settling in[]well, but I still feel that the tone of my e-mails is not quite right. I am looking for an e-mail sign-off that can be used in office correspondence, is brief (perhaps one word), which is less formal than "regards" but is not over-friendly as in "cheers" or "best" and so on.
Any suggestions?
Banker, male, 46
在过去这是十分简单的事情：对于“Dear Sir”开头的信，以“Yours faithfully”结尾；对于“Dear Mr x”开头的信，以“Yours sincerely”结尾。但现在不同了，虽然电子邮件作为商业通信往来的首选工具已有10年之久，但对如何在电子邮件中结尾依然没有统一的看法。
最近，我数了一下发给我的100封电子邮件，总共有35种不同结尾方式。其中，有30种方式是试图表现得更加友好，但是它们总有这样或那样的缺陷，难以让人满意。
第一个问题来源于想让结束句听起来更温馨一些。“Take care”和“Warmest regards”隐隐有点假，但它们也要好过“Warmly”。“Warmly”未免感情太丰富了，并且让我明显感到一丝凉意。
在友善方面进行的另一个失败的尝试是发生在试图营造一种“哥们”般的气氛时。“Cheers”和“Catch you later”听起来比感情丰富更糟糕，使用这种结束句是可笑的。
比哥们意气更糟糕的是大呼小叫－－其标志是惊叹号。惊叹号不应出现在电子邮件中，尤其是在结尾。“Have a good one!”、“All the best!”、以及“Enjoy the weekend!”都是草率的、可笑的和粗鄙的结尾方式。
缩略语的使用不显得那么可笑，但可能具有误导性。缩略语的使用可以达到某种非正式性的效果，但是代价是有点傲慢的意味，似乎在暗示写信的人不屑于多敲几个键。“BR”作为结束语是十分常见，但对我来说，“BR”也代表“英国铁路”的意思。“Rgds“太难看了，“HTH”（意思是希望有点帮助）也改观不大。一位读者推荐使用“Yrs Ev”，我真希望他只是在开玩笑。
两个最流行的、“友好的”电子邮件结束语是“Thanks”和“Best”。前者在有什么事情值得感谢的情况下是可以接受的用法，但多数电子邮件并不是这样。后者的写法一直存在一个问题，它使人产生疑问：最好的什么？
为什么要找到一个友好的电子邮件结束语如此困难？原因在于问题一开始就错了。工作邮件并不意味着是“友好”，因为它们不是写给朋友的。相反，工作邮件应当是清晰的、有礼貌的，而且最重要的是要简短，不需要用结束语来表达额外的什么意思。
多年来，我一直采用这样的规则：对于公司以外的人，我用“Best wishes”结尾；对于公司内部的人，我仅仅写上我的名字。
It used to be quite simple. "Yours faithfully" went with "Dear Sir", and "Yours sincerely" with "Dear Mr x". But now, 10 years after e-mail became the preferred tool for business communications, there is still no agreement on how to say goodbye.
Recently, I counted 100 e-mails sent to me and found 35 different ways of signing off. Of these, 30 were trying to be friendly, and all were annoying in different ways.
The first problem came from trying to sound warm. "Take care" and "Warmest regards" ooze[] insincerity, though are better than "Warmly", which is soppy[]and leaves me feeling distinctly chilly.
The next failed attempt at friendliness involves striking a matey[] note.[] "Cheers" and "Catch you later" sound more sloppy[] than soppy - and dim,[] too.
Worse than mateyness is cheeriness - usually signalled by an exclamation mark, which should have no place in e-mails, especially not at the end. "Have a good one!"; "All the best!"; "Enjoy the weekend!" are sloppy, dim and grating.
Less dim, but no less misguided, are abbreviations. These achieve some informality, but at the cost of being insulting by implying that the writer can't be bothered to[]make a couple of additional keystrokes. "BR", which is distressingly[] popular, still means British Rail to me. "Rgds" is hideous,[] and "HTH" (hope that helps) does not help at all. One reader has written in recommending you sign off "Yrs Ev". I wish I could be confident he was joking.
The two most popular "friendly" e-mail sign-offs are "Thanks" and "Best". The first is acceptable if there is something to be thankful for, but in most e-mails this is not the case. And the second is never all right as it makes one wonder: best what?
The reason it is so difficult to find a friendly e-mail sign-off is that the starting point is wrong. Work e-mails are not meant to be friendly, as they are not written to friends. Instead, they should be clear and polite and, above all, short or else no one will get as far as the sign-off anyway.
For years I have adopted the following rule. For people outside the company, I write "Best wishes". For those inside, I simply write my name.
敲击大写锁定，然后随机敲四个键。你所有的同事都会认为，你使用了一种新的网络缩略语，他们确信是自己对网络了解不深而不明其意，并因此感到羞愧。
TWKL
主管，男，41
Hit random keys
Hit caps lock. Hit four random keys. All your colleagues will think you're using some new internet acronym
Smile more
当我从社会服务机构换到一家非正式的城市管理机构时，我吃惊于他们内部电子邮件风格的随意性，但我仍然保持我自己的标准，无论是拼写，还是标点、语法等。
我的这种方式极大地帮助了我在这家新公司形成我自己的形象。虽说没有必要做得刻板或过分拘谨，但稍微正式一点总没坏处。
主管，男
Don't be sloppy
When I moved from the civil service to an informal City institution I was appalled by the sloppy approach to internal e-mails and kept up my standards in spelling, punctuation, grammar etc.
It helped enormously in establishing my profile in the company. There is no need to be stuffy or overly punctilious, but a little formality never hurts.
Director, male
[] naff, 英国英语非正式的说法，意思是：stupid, or not fashionable。
[] settle in: 习惯一种新的生活方式、一个新地方，或者一个新工作。
例子：She seems to have settled in quickly at her new company.
[] ooze:
[] soppy: 多愁善感的（foolishly sentimental）。
[] matey: 英国英语的非正式说法，意思是“友好的、友善的”。
[] strike a ... note, sound a ... note: 营造一种特别的感觉、印象或气氛。
例子：Before his first round of discussions, Mr Baker sounded an optimistic note.
[] sloppy: 马虎，草率（been done in a careless and lazy way）。
[] dim: 本意是模糊不清的，这里是一种非正式的用法，意思是愚蠢的（stupid）。
[] can't be bothered to do: If you say that you can't be bothered to do something, you mean that you are not going to do it because you think it is unnecessary or because you are too lazy.
例子：I just can't be bothered to look after the house.
[] distressing: 感到不安或让人担心。
[] hideous: 丑陋的，可怕的（注意i的发音是短音，不是hide中i的长音）。
例子：She saw a hideous face at the window and screamed.
