職場雙語:要"非常愛你的"上司

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.

我剛剛收到了經理的一封電子郵件，他爲了微不足道的事含糊其詞地訓斥了我一頓。郵件內容本身並不怪異，詭異的是他的落款"非常愛你的"(Lots of love)。可能他想通過這種方式淡化批評的語氣，但卻讓我感到令人毛骨悚然，並且產生了兩點疑惑。上司給下屬發電子郵件如此落款是否合適？如果他一定要這麼落款，我回信時又該如何落款？我沒法在回信中也寫"非常愛你的"，只寫"祝好"(Best)又顯得冷冰冰。

Media researcher, female, 33

媒體研究人員，女，33歲

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"的問題不在於看起來冷冰冰，而在於毫無意義。最好的什麼？最好的運氣？最好的祝福？最好的買賣？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.

你也不必考慮要不要寫"非常愛你的"。依葫蘆畫瓢只能起到一個效果：讓你看起來很軟弱。

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，你該做的事很簡單——根本不用落款。這是給同事寫電子郵件時最合適、最快捷和最安全的結尾。如果你堅持要落款，可以在末尾寫上自己的名字；但既然大家都知道發信人是你，以姓名落款的意義也不太大。

As for whether it is ever acceptable for a boss to sign himself off with "Lots of love", the answer is that it might be. Email is a strange form – even though we all spend our lives sending and receiving emails, there is still no agreement on the rules of how to start or end them and all sorts of things are permissible, depending on the circumstances.

至於上司本人用"非常愛你的"落款是否合適，答案是這或許是合適的。電子郵件是一種奇怪的通信方式，儘管我們在生活中都要收發電子郵件，但關於電子郵件應該如何開頭、結尾怎麼寫，我們並沒有達成共識，所以，各種寫法都是可以接受的，這要看實際情況而定。

If your boss signs himself off "lots of love" there are two possibilities. The first is that he was too quick to press send, and made a mistake. I've just sent a message to a reader who had taken issue with something I'd written and I carelessly signed it with three kisses. Fortunately, he ignored it: his subsequent reply ended with a more fitting "best wishes".

如果你的老闆落款時用"非常愛你的",這裏面存在着兩種可能性。第一種是，他在匆忙中按下"發送"鍵，犯了一個錯誤。有位讀者寫信對我的文章提出了意見，我剛給他回信時一不小心用了三個"吻你"作爲落款。好在他沒當回事，他在回信中的落款是得體的"衷心的祝福(best wishes)"。

More likely, though, your boss's sign-off shows that he is trying to create an informal, we're-all-great-chums culture. This approach doesn't begin to work for me, but is perfectly fine if you like that sort of thing.

不過，更有可能的情況是，你老闆的落款表明，他想要營造一種不那麼正式、大家都是好朋友的氛圍。我對這個不感冒，但如果你喜歡這種方式，那就挺好的。

However, I fear you may have a bigger problem than how to sign off your reply. In particular, I fear it may cause offence long before the end of it. You say your boss was reprimanding you over something "pretty trivial", but in my experience minor transgressions tend not to attract reprimanding emails at all. Most people don't like telling others off, and your boss – who wants to be seen as a lovable kinda guy – may like it less than most.

但是，我擔心你還有一個比不知回信如何落款更嚴重的問題。尤其是，我擔心這個問題在得到解決之前，你可能會得罪人。你提到，你老闆在某件"微不足道的"事情上批評了你；但以我的經驗來看，如果你只是犯了個小錯誤，對方不至於特意發郵件來責備你。大多數人都不喜歡斥責別人，你老闆——他想被大家視爲一個和藹可親的人——很可能比大多數人更不願這麼做。

I suspect that you have in fact made a major transgression. In which case you should stop dithering, get cracking at once, and start your reply with a big, fat apology.

我懷疑，你實際上犯了一個大錯誤。如果是這種情況，你最好別再猶豫，立馬行動，回覆郵件，誠懇地爲自己的行爲道歉。

Your advice

讀者的建議

Be professional

專業

Finishing a business email with "Lots of Love" is unacceptable and regarded by most as unprofessional. Your email sign-off is part of your e-dress code: it sends a message about the image you want to create just as much as the way you dress. Why write a good email and then spoil it with the equivalent of wearing scruffy shoes with a designer suit?

在談公務的電子郵件中落款寫"非常愛你的"是不可接受的，大多數人都認爲這種做法不夠專業。電子郵件落款是一個人"電子着裝"的組成部分：正如你希望通過着裝展現你的形象一樣，落款也能傳遞出你希望塑造的個人形象的信息。爲何寫完一封漂亮的郵件，卻在落款時自毀形象，就像身着出自設計師之手的西裝，腳上卻穿着髒鞋子一樣？

You should sign off with a line that reflects the professional image.

你應該在落款上體現出自身的專業形象。

Email consultant, female, 50s

電子郵件顧問，女，50多歲

Sit on the fence

圓滑一點兒

To avoid offence by being chilly and without reciprocating insincerely, why not sit on the fence with STY (same to you)?

爲了不表現得冷冰冰，從而冒犯上司，並且在回覆中避免顯得不誠懇，何不表現得圓滑一些、在落款處寫STY（same to you,也一樣祝願你）呢？

Anon, female

匿名，女

Be grateful

你應該感到慶幸

You should probably be grateful that it wasn't signed off "LOL", which would have caused a different sort of confusion and consternation.

他落款上沒用"LOL"，你可能就應該感到謝天謝地了。LOL可能會引起完全不同的困惑和恐慌。（LOL既可作Lots of love的縮寫，也可作"大笑"laugh out loud的縮寫——譯者注）

Chairman, male, 57

董事長，男，57歲

Confront him

不要回避

If a manager is flirting, this could also be borderline harassment. Dealing with it might be better than shoving it aside. You should confront him and get over a potentially embarrassing situation before it develops.

如果一名經理言語輕浮，這也可能是一種曖昧的騷擾行爲。解決問題可能比置之不理更好。你應當正面應對他，防患於未然，以免到最後陷入令人尷尬的境地。

Official, female

官員，女

Scare him off

嚇跑他

It could be sarcasm – think here of Jamie in The Thick of It. Or it could be smarmy – think here of David Brent in The Office. Or trendy. Or absent-minded – perhaps he meant to email his girlfriend and got his wires crossed. Or just wimpy – he's afraid to tell you off.

可能他想諷刺你——想想《幕後危機》(The Thick of It)裏的傑米(Jamie)。也可能是拍你馬屁——想想《辦公室》(The Office)裏的大衛•佈雷特(David Brent)。或者他想趕時髦。或者他當時心不在焉——可能他本是想給女友發電郵的，結果搞混了。又或者他比較懦弱，不敢責備你。

You seem to think it's the latter, in which case leave a short message to your significant other posted on your desk, with "Lots of love" at the bottom (subliminal message: only they get to me by those words). That'll scare him off.

看來你認爲是後一個原因，在這種情況下，你給另外一個對你來說很重要的人寫一張便籤，末尾署上"非常愛你的"某某，（言外之意：只有他們給我寫信才能使用這樣的字眼），然後貼到辦公桌上。看到這樣的紙片，他以後就不敢那麼寫了。

Male, anon

男，匿名

Turn to tradition

迴歸傳統

Perhaps the old sign-off for letters to The Times may be apposite: "I am, Sir, your honourable and obedient servant".

或許，致《泰晤士報》(The Times)信件中那種老式的落款比較合適："先生，我是您誠實、恭順的僕人"。

Or, as you know him: "I remain, Sir, your honourable and obedient servant".

或者，既然你認識他，就寫："先生，我仍是您誠實、恭順的僕人"。

Anon

匿名