Is it true that using "thanks" is passive aggressive in emails? Does writing "thanks in advance" also sound bad?

Thanks can occasionally come across as passive agressive in professional emails but it's the context of the rest of the email that can make it sound that way, and it's probably not gonna be an issue unless you have annoying and nitpicky coworkers. Thanks in advance is perfectly fine, though.

I've seen older people saying that younger people now think that punctuation (eg periods/ full stops) is "passive aggressive". People just make up the rules as they go along :-(

I guess if you set this as your default signature, it would sound passive aggressive in emails where you are unhappy with the person you are writing to. Then again, most signatures like 'kindest regards' etc. would sound passive aggressive in that kind of email.

I find that I say everything very formal in emails like I was taught, and I get a reply that sounds more like a text, so I don't know what the standard is honestly. Either should be fine in my opinion.

Using either is in no way passive aggressive in the least.

People could take 'thanks' in a professional setting as being short(unfriendly/ brief) because thanks is a short hand for thank you. It's more informal.

Thanks is fine. Thanks in advance is fine, but a little odd. All of my answer are just opinions, I have no idea if there's even a generally accepted or felt answer to this. Oddly, I hear this (I'll call it a myth) repeated from time to time. I have no ida where it comes from, but if you figure it out. Let me know. Thanks, me

Both are fine.

I have no clue where these people got that notion. "Thanks" is simply shorthand for thank you. "Thanks in advance" won't sound bad either. Bit of info on "thanks in advance" that you probably know, but just wanna make sure. Its saying thank you for whoever you're talking to for doing what you requested before they actually do it.

Don’t ask me. I once got told that using a period in a text message was “aggressively formal.” 🤷🏼‍♀️

Depends on context. If you knew said person was upset or angry at you then maybe you could assume they were being petty depending on the type of person they are. But if it was an email asking a question to a lecturer for example it wouldn't be perceived that way. Thanks in advance is fine too in my opinion.

It's.. OK, but I wouldn't say just Thanks to someone you want something from. Maybe it's a personal thing.

My email signature is, "Thank you for your time, Scaleman Cometh Brick of business card data"

I think this may be missing some context. Depending on where you found it, it may be in reference to [federal employees being told to remove pronouns from their email signatures](https://abcnews.go.com/US/federal-employees-told-remove-pronouns-email-signatures-end/story?id=118310483&cid=social_twitter_abcn). It's meant as an anti-trans/genderqueer thing, but since "you" is also a pronoun, "thank you" would also be prohibited.

Imagine having so much drama in your life that you have a formal code for passion aggression.

Honestly, I think the opposite: that "thanks" is normal and "thank you" *can* sound passive aggressive. The first is casual and friendly, and the second is cold and formal.

Generally speaking, the more words you use, the softer the statement. No means no. No one has ever read the end user license agreement

What about thankies though

See, my favorite pass time is to read professional email chains that I get and how they end up being so damn rude to each other but they’re all nice. I laugh thru the chains. It’s funny. But I never found Thanks! Passive aggressive. I don’t like Best tho. It’s irritating and I have a coworker who uses that. It’s just irritating to me. Don’t know why. I actually like the coworker but for some reason it sounds condescending or something. Also, we are American and that’s more of a British sign off in my experience. And I don’t find them condescending!🤣

I think we are missing the context. 90% of communication is based on body language, tone of the voice, and facial expressions. Without them, it is hard to say if the author was being sarcastic.

Just add an exclamation mark. Thanks!

Wouldn't worry about it too much. "Thanks" isn't necessarily bad, just depends on the context and tone of the email, like others have said. Most people really aren't gonna care unless they're just especially nitpicky. "Thanks", "Thanks in advance" and "Thanks again" are all perfectly fine in a professional context. "Thank you" is just more so.

If it's a demand for the other person to do something or a similar context, and the wording is terse or too brief, then, the "thanks" will also sound rude and passive aggressive

"Thanks in advance" can be seen as a bit passive-aggressive, in that it assumes the person you're talking to will absolutely do what you're expecting them to. I don't have a problem with it, personally, but I've known other people who saw it as arrogant or manipulative.

No. I work in a very large corporation. Everybody writes thanks. It's polite.

I learned professional communications 40 years ago, so take that for what it’s worth, but my teacher’s suggestion in my Tech Writing class was to close with “Regards”. I stick with that for the most part unless I’m specifically thanking someone for something they’ve done. “Hey Fran, I appreciate you handling the presentation to the clients today. Thanks!”

Some people think everything is aggressive, passive or otherwise.

Depends on the email. If you spend the entire email being condescending or otherwise an ass (eg: "i know you have such a busy time filling in check boxes, but could you finally do this thing that was asked of you a month ago?"), a TIA signoff is indeed condescending. If you've sent the email making a genuine, respectful request, the TIA also comes off as genuine.

my email signature started with Thanks! before the actual body of the signature. nobody ever called me on it. while thanks can come off as condescending given certain context, that context would be a condescending ass email. As long as you don't write your emails like i wrote this comment, you'll be fine. lol

You need context. I have some for you: - “Thank you”/“thanks” are never used as a signature. This person seems to be confusing the closing of an email/letter with a signature. (From here on, I will be simply referring to them collectively as thanks) - Thanks sound reasonable as a closing, where the interpretation is “thank you for reading”. This is only used in emails and letters. - Thanks are potentially rude _in requests_, as it often implies that you expect the result, rather than simply asking. You should use “please” in this context. - It is rude if you DON’T use thanks after a request is fulfilled or someone agrees to fulfill a request. Always thank someone when your request has been fulfill or someone has agreed to fulfill it. - Thanks may be used in other scenarios to indicate that you grateful that something has happened as well, of course. So it’s not any ruder to use them in an email than in equivalent spoken context, but they should not be used when making requests (except when saying “please and thanks”/“please and thank you”, but that is a separate can of worms

It can. It all depends on the context of the rest of the email. >Hi Carl, >I'm having trouble opening the latest excel file. Would you mind stopping by to help me see if I'm doing something wrong? >Thanks, >\-Clovermite This would probably come across polite. In contrast, the following would like come across passive aggressive. >Carl, >I didn't appreciate the comments you made today during the morning meeting. In the future, if you have criticisms you want to voice about my style of leadership, please do so in private. Thanks. >\-Clovermite

The rule for something *sounding* passive-aggressive is the person receiving it and how they perceive it (or how they perceive the sender). The rule for something *being* passive-aggressive is whether the person saying it is purposefully or unintentionally using that way of communicating due to their emotional state (which may be clear or unclear to them).

"Thanks." -> you are not happy, therefore come across as "passive aggressive" "Thanks!" -> you are happy, therefore truly greatful

It's all very context dependent. I would say "Thanks" or "Thank you" are both totally fine almost all of the time, but if the email is written in a sarcastic way, then either of them could sound passive aggressive.

No it is not true. Almost any word or phrase can appear passive aggressive depending on the context of the rest of the message or preceding conversation. This is surely true of every language? There is nothing wrong with ending an email with 'thanks'. Don't overthink it.

Yes because it eliminates the personified object that is an actual human; it has always been this way, even when I wrote letters on typewriters. "Thanks" is impersonal because no person is acknowledged. Honestly, it seems to be a classsism thing of how well one speaks English. To know better is to do better.

No. I work in a very large corporation. Everybody writes thanks. It's polite.

It's definitely one of those "Depends who you ask" scenarios. I personally don't like it but I'm a very anxious person and overthink things! Perfectly acceptable though, formality of emails is slowly lessening (thanks is less formal than kind regards for example)

Saying only "thanks" at the end of your email could definitely be seen as passive aggressive. If you sign it "thanks, <your name>" it's totally normal and fine though.

something like "thanks for nothing" or "oh thanks for that" when someone has been useless comes off as passive aggressive in certain contexts. IE: Person 1: sorry we were unable to help you with this person 2: thanks I guess this would be seen as rude. but if you were to say "thanks for trying anyway" or "thanks for your time" that would be polite.

I'm a woman, and we tend to use more exclamation points in our writing to appear friendlier and enthusiastic. So I often end my emails with "Thanks!" when talking to colleagues I know well. When it comes to clients I don't know well, but I am asking for something small or routine, I usually say something like "Thank you for your help" or "I appreciate all your help" (the second option is slightly less formal, therefore friendlier). "Thank you in advance" is polite but more formal. I wouldn't use this with a colleague that I had a working relationship with, but it would be perfectly acceptable when sending a work email to a client or someone you didn't know.

It depends on context “Thanks.” As a standalone sentence with a period is going to seem terse and passive aggressive. If you write a whole email with a negative or demanding tone then end it with “thanks” then it will sound passive aggressive. But if you are writing a neutral or pleasant email it won’t read that way. Adding an exclamation point to “Thanks!” Will generally avoid a passive aggressive tone. But don’t overuse exclamation points all over an email. Limit it to just that line or maybe one other line

I usually go with "Thanks for your help" unless I really think they might not help, or "Thanks again" if they've helped me before.

Ugh. I had a co-worker that would use the extremely informal abomination "Thanx" in his email signature. Made me cringe every time.

I want the context

I think it's one of those hyperformalizations that can take on a negative connotation because of how forced it is so commonly, it feels kind of corporate, which can be offputting in the right setting. It's kinda like how "sir" and "maam" can be sort of dismissive and insulting in certain circumstances. Because it's what some people, such as those who work in retail, are forced to say. So some people use the word when they mean to speak an insult but aren't allowed to, giving it an insulting emotional tone