I’ve just received an email from my manager vaguely reprimanding me about something pretty trivial. The odd thing wasn’t the message itself but the way he finished it, signing off with “Lots of love”. Perhaps this was his way of trying to soften the message, but it has left me with two creeping doubts. Is it ever OK for a line manager to sign off messages to staff in this way? And if he insists on ending his emails like that, how am I meant to reply? I can’t bring myself to write “Lots of love” back, but to write “Best” looks a bit chilly.
我刚刚收到了经理的一封电子邮件，他为了微不足道的事含糊其词地训斥了我一顿。邮件内容本身并不怪异，诡异的是他的落款“非常爱你的”(Lots of love)。可能他想通过这种方式淡化批评的语气，但却让我感到令人毛骨悚然，并且产生了两点疑惑。上司给下属发电子邮件如此落款是否合适？如果他一定要这么落款，我回信时又该如何落款？我没法在回信中也写“非常爱你的”，只写“祝好”(Best)又显得冷冰冰。
Media researcher, female, 33
媒体研究人员，女，33岁
Lucy’s answer
露西的回答
The problem with “best” is not that it looks chilly. It’s that it makes no sense. Best what? Best of luck? Best wishes? Best buy? Best man?
“祝好”的问题不在于看起来冷冰冰，而在于毫无意义。最好的什么？最好的运气？最好的祝福？最好的买卖？最好的男人？
Nor must you consider writing “Lots of love”. To slavishly mirror the sign-off of the boss achieves one thing only: it makes you look weak.
你也不必考虑要不要写“非常爱你的”。依葫芦画瓢只能起到一个效果：让你看起来很软弱。
Instead, what you must do is perfectly easy – not sign off at all. This is always the best, quickest and safest way of ending emails to colleagues. If you insist, you can write your name at the bottom, but as everyone can see that it is from you, such elucidation isn’t strictly necessary.
相反，你该做的事很简单——根本不用落款。这是给同事写电子邮件时最合适、最快捷和最安全的结尾。如果你坚持要落款，可以在末尾写上自己的名字；但既然大家都知道发信人是你，以姓名落款的意义也不太大。