Cheers meaning in email: thanks and goodbye in one word
In an email, cheers means thanks and goodbye in one word. It's the casual sign-off in UK and Australian work email. Before a drink, the same word is a toast.
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Filed under C jargon.
Cheers as an office word
Three jobs, one word
Cheers does three jobs, depending on where you say it. The thanks and goodbye meanings are informal, and dictionaries file them under British or Commonwealth English.
| Where | What cheers means |
|---|---|
| Raised with a glass | A toast |
| To the person holding the door | Thank you |
| At the end of an email | Goodbye, and usually thanks too |
Where cheers travels
In British and Australian offices, everyone from the intern to the finance director signs off with cheers. Gen Z may be dropping it. Only one of nearly 1,400 young workers on both sides of the Atlantic named cheers as a sign-off.
If a client only knows the toast, wait until they write cheers first.
Cheers on its own
A lone cheers in chat means thanks and goodbye. In British offices, the bigger the favor, the bigger the thanks.
| Thanks, smallest first | What it’s for |
|---|---|
| Ta | A passed stapler |
| Cheers | Most favors |
| Thanks, or many thanks | Real work |
| Much appreciated | Anything that cost someone their evening |
Cheers and the other casual closers
The other casual closers each do part of what cheers does. “Thanks” leaves out the goodbye. “Have a great weekend” says goodbye, but only on a Friday.
On the scale of email sign-offs, cheers sits at the friendly end and regards at the formal end. All the best is the warm goodbye. Cheers is the only sign-off in our jargon dictionary you can also say with a glass in your hand.
Cheers in the numbers
Fourth on the friendly list
UK workers rank cheers fourth among friendly closings, behind wishing someone a great day, many thanks and best wishes. It beats warm regards, all the best and best regards.
From a face to a pint
Cheer once meant face
Cheer comes from an Old French word for face. The happy sense won out later, and “be of good cheer” still uses it.
| Cheer meant | Since |
|---|---|
| A person’s expression | Around 1200 |
| Mostly a glad expression | About 1400 |
| A shout of encouragement | 1720 |
The toast came in 1919
Cheers became a toast in Britain, first recorded in 1919. No one has pinned down when the thanks and goodbye meanings started.
Cheers as office cover
Cheers for the extra slide
“Can you add a slide on Q4, cheers” is hard to refuse, because it has already thanked you. It’s thanks in advance in one word instead of three.
When cheers goes formal
In an email to the CEO, cheers comes across as a pat on the back. Put it under a complaint and it looks like a shrug. Both emails need sincerely or best regards instead.
Cheers, mate
“Cheers, mate” is fine between two people who were once stuck in the same elevator. Sent to the legal team, it’s a cry for help.
Cheers at the end of a call
On a video call, cheers can take a full minute, because every tile says it in turn.
Ollie confirms the room
Subject: RE: Room for Thursday
Hi Raj, I’ve booked the room from 2 to 4 and the projector is working again. I’ll bring the printouts and the good markers.
CheersThanks, bye, Ollie
Cheers in a sentence
Got the invoice, all set now. Cheers, Callum.
Cheers for covering my shift on Saturday, Aoife. I owe you one.
The client's whole reply was cheers, and now Brett thinks they want to go for drinks.
Raise your glasses, everyone. Cheers to ten years of the Leeds office and its broken elevator.
Questions about cheers in email
What does cheers mean at the end of an email?
Thanks and goodbye at once. It's a casual sign-off, common between colleagues in British and Australian offices, and it usually thanks the reader for something they've done or are about to do.
Is cheers professional in an email?
Between colleagues in the UK and Australia, yes. For a first email to a client, or to someone who only knows cheers from raising a glass, best regards is the safer choice.
What can I say instead of cheers in an email?
Thanks or many thanks if you're thanking someone, and kind regards or best regards for a client. For a goodbye with no thank-you in it, try talk soon or have a great weekend.
What does "cheersing" mean?
Raising or clinking glasses and saying cheers. It's an informal verb for making a toast, and it has nothing to do with the email sign-off.