Goodbye!
… or, “How I have trouble hanging up the phone.”
How do you hang up the phone? (Not with family or close friends, but in a professional-yet-friendly setting.) “Thank you, bye!” is my usual, but sometimes I’ve done something for THEM, and a thank-you is a little weird.
The other people in the office say “buh-bye”, and it seems to work for them, but me? I say “buh-bye” and I hear “bubbeh.” Or maybe “Popeye.” And sometimes “bye-bye!!!” like it would be squealed by a three-year-old with blond pigtails.
And, every once in a while, I hear “awww, whosa cute kitty? cutie want some num-nums?” but perhaps that’s just me.
Damn that wanker Anne Robinson for ruining “Goodbye!” It used to work perfectly well and now it just makes me sound like I’m calling the clients stupid. Grrrrr.
Seriously. What is your closer for phone calls that you need to end on friendly-but-professional terms?