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The Proustian solution to the problem of email sign-offs
How forward is an X? How chilly is no X? If in doubt, French passive aggression may be best
16 May 2021 • 8:00pm
Among David Cameron’s recent answers to MPs’ questions about Greensill Capital, one detail caught my eye: his use of “Love Dc” as a sign-off in text messages to a senior civil servant. While political semioticians decode the nuances, my interest is in the howling abyss of unknowing it reveals about how to end virtual communications.
From the days when I sat in an office surrounded by Tipp-Ex and carbon paper, I dimly recall that there were rules about this sort of thing. Did the formidable office manager insist that letters addressed by name should conclude with “Yours sincerely”, and those addressed to “Dear Madam” with “Yours faithfully”? She may have done. But those greetings have gone the way of typewriters and fax machines. Now, no one seems to know what to do.