Today’s Prognosis on Peace, Out
July 13th, 2005
Peace, Out.
Throughout history the concept of language and words and letters and all the punctuation inbetween has grown, developed and gotten sort of mangled in my own humble opinion. No longer do dictionaries or thesauri actually contain many of the words or phrases being used by “real people” in the “real world.”
And sometimes, I think that’s a good thing.
There were happier, more polite times when people signed letters with phrases like “Sincerely” or “Best Wishes” or “Love” or “Thank you” or “It’s been great conversing with you” or “From” — but these days there is a movement that seeks to destroy the comfortable, common, sensible end-notes at the bottom of letters, e-mails, and blog posts.
I’m speaking specifically of “Peace, Out.” (Which, if you didn’t notice, I used as the first line of this post in an attempt to be ironic since I’m talking about the ends of letters or posts but yet here I’m starting a post with that phrase which sort of gives the reader a kind of Bizarro World coefficient that will both confuse, confound and intrigue.)
But I digress.
When I open up an e-mail and I read to the bottom and someone signs their e-mail “Peace, Out” there is only one thing I think: this person is a poser. Now before you get all “why are you using the word ‘poser’, poser… Just think about it. No one in their right mind gets to the bottom of an e-mail and thinks to themselves, “Peace, Out would be a really apropros sign-off right here…” No one gets to the bottom of an e-mail, either, and just puts “Peace, Out” by instinct. There is a thought process that goes into signing an e-mail with this phrase, and it has ‘wannabe’ written all over it. If you are working for Greenpeace or you often find yourself scaling large trees in forests on the edge of civilization in an attempt to save animals, people or plant species on the edge of extinction, or you are so desperately in awe of Ryan Seacrest — then OK. But otherwise, just drop it.
This goes for you and these other ‘poser-ish’ e-mail ending phrases like:
Later!
TTFN
Rock.
Keepin’ it real-
You know it!
See ya wouldn’t wanna be ya!
Ciao
Cheers!
and Stay true
C’mon. People. Puh-leeze.
None of these ending phrases are YOU. Seriously. They’re not. The prognosis on today’s “hip and happenin” e-mail ending phrases is not good. Not good at all. Things need to change and they need to change quickly. Sure, ’sincerely’ may not be your ‘bag, baby’, but maybe just trying your name might work. I mean, people know you’re signing off. People know the letter has ended.
The white space clues ‘em in.
Wassup Pauly!
I think you are so right on. And Ryan Seacrest is like totally to blame for much of these poser-ish words.
With that said, I wanted to tell you that you rock.
Hilary, Out!
Comment by Hilary — July 13, 2005 @ 9:11 am
You’re the man now, dawg. You just isn’t* down with the cultural pizazz.
Peace, out.
* Yes, I meant “isn’t”.
Comment by kartooner — July 13, 2005 @ 9:13 am
Does “Later Dawg” count?
Comment by eriks — July 13, 2005 @ 9:16 am
You can say “Later, Dawg” if you are culturally allowed to. I would never say “Later, Dawg.”
As for saying “You’re the man now, dawg” while doing a Sean Connery impression — that might be OK.
Comment by Pauly D — July 13, 2005 @ 9:21 am
What about these old-school–and we’re talking elementary–signoffs: keep in touch (KIT); too good to be forgotten (TGTBF); or my fav yours for never? Can I use these Pauly?
Just inquiring,
Casey
Comment by casey — July 13, 2005 @ 9:42 am
Casey, you may use “keep in touch” but you may not use “TGTBF” or “yours for never” based on the fact that one of these is a “hip letter deal” and the other is a play on words.
Keep it simple and you’ll find more people reply to your e-mails out of respect and being impressed with your ability to keep it real.
Comment by Pauly D — July 13, 2005 @ 9:44 am
You definitely had me confused, confounded, and intrigued. Truth be told, I had to read your post twice because I stopped at the opening line the first time.
Thesauri?? I never realized that thesaurus was one of those i-ending words. (fungi, hippopotami, Jesi) Go figure.
Thanks for the smiles this morning!
Comment by Anne — July 13, 2005 @ 10:11 am
Being an English teacher, it’s truly unnerving to get students to stop ending their reports in “Peace, Out.” I honestly understand what you’re saying here.
Comment by Amy Steier — July 13, 2005 @ 11:03 am
I’ve never signed me emails “Peace, Out.” But I do sign them, “Peace, J” or “Peace, Joel.” But I think that’s okay, since I hate Ryan Seacrest. Then again, I think I have a better way to sign:
Piss Off!
Which I guess has some audible similarity to Peace, Out. But that’s just too bad. What do you think?
Comment by Fun Joel — July 13, 2005 @ 11:09 am
Word to your mutha!
Comment by monkeyinabox — July 13, 2005 @ 11:26 am
I have to admit I was completely perplexed by your opening line and didn’t know if I should read on. But I’m glad I did! I used to sign my emails “Peace~Love, David Cassidy and Save the Whales!” But I think at that time it was appropriate. Peace~Love was to mock my ex who always accused me of being a bohemian (or bo-womian in my case). The David Cassidy part was due to the fact that I had a huge crush on him when I was learning to tie my shoe laces, and Save the Whales because seeing “Free Willy” made me really sit down and ponder if a career in whaling was something I wanted to do with my life. Now I just prefer to sign with a sincere wish that the recipient of my email stay well so they know I care about them. I’ve yet to use an insult, but I imagine it might be appropriate at times. lol
Take care and stay out of the rain or you might catch yourself a cold!
~charm
Comment by groovebunny — July 13, 2005 @ 11:47 am
The lamest and most poser-ish sign-off that I am guilty of using would definitely have to be “keep on keepin’ on.” But (when I’m not constantly changing my sign-off to amuse my school buddies) I usually just end e-mails with a simple…
—Will
That seems to work just fine.
Comment by Will — July 13, 2005 @ 11:59 am
You know a phrase is getting to be old school when your mother says “Peace, Out” at the end of your weekly Sunday night conversation.
Comment by Neil — July 13, 2005 @ 12:33 pm
You people are all crazy.
Comment by Pauly D — July 13, 2005 @ 1:12 pm
Whenever I ask my 86-year-old grandmother what she’s doing, she always replies, “Just chillin’.” THAT’S crazy.
Comment by Amy Steier — July 13, 2005 @ 2:02 pm
Peace Out (rolls eyes) My Mother says, “Later Girlfriend!” or worse yet, types that in her emails.
So does this mean my Raise Hell An’ Eat Cornbread is disallowed? Because I’ve been sayin’ that little ditty my entire life.
Comment by Yoj — July 13, 2005 @ 2:31 pm
I like “peace and penguins,” but most of the time, it’s just “A.” After all, if it’s a personal (not professional) email, the person I’m sending it to know who I am, right?
Comment by Andrea — July 13, 2005 @ 3:03 pm
It’s like ending emails like you end stuff in yearbooks. In other words…no good.
I end my emails with a handy “-Elyse” because closings…take too much time to type? Nah. I’m just lazy. And there’s nothing I could say after that to make myself sound better. Laziness basically encapsulates me and most everyone else in America under the age of about 25, I’d say.
Comment by Elyse — July 13, 2005 @ 6:45 pm
Peace and penguins?
Please. PLEASE. Stop that for your own sake, Andrea.
Comment by Pauly D — July 13, 2005 @ 6:54 pm
I hate Ciao! and Cheers! unless pepole are Italian or English. It bugs me otherwise.
Also, some have replaced “word” with Snoop Dogg’s “church” ??????
Comment by StationeryQueen — July 13, 2005 @ 7:40 pm
I have now changed all my email signatures, thanks.
Oh, and watch out for closings such as: Hi, I’m Mike Rundle.
Comment by Colin D. Devroe — July 13, 2005 @ 7:49 pm
Seeya!
It’s a bit dated, and I use it all the time, but never the extended version:
Seeya, wouldn’t wanna be ya.
Comment by John B — July 14, 2005 @ 8:52 am
How about like “luv,hugs,kisses,n wat not” or “luv, hugs,kisses,xoxox,n wat not” or should i just stick w/ the whole xoxox except thats not really me.? I usually just end -Name or just Name or w/e but I want sumthin thats really me. The 1st one is me cuz im like varied and split personality (not extremely or n e thin) an dim under 25 and im only gonna use this to talk to friends so is the whole IM abbreviations thing okay? The second one w/ the xoxox is kinda mockin preppy girls cuz they kinda bug be and its so aggravatin and most ppl i email kno that? The last ones kinda wat I was mockin so…u get the picture…i just wanted to see ur take on it…srry for the length of it…and im not lookin to end my paper with it…im an accelerated student with a good vocabulary and fair writin skills but still not that great cuz i cant analyze so im not about to go and lower my grade
Thanks for the help
-purpleglitz…its corny i kno but w/e
Comment by purpleglitz12 — September 28, 2005 @ 8:15 pm