Lately I’ve been noticing people sign off in emails like this:
I know one person who does it, then noticed several more over the last few weeks. What is this supposed to mean, an abbreviation of “best wishes” or something? It just looks a bit unnatural to me.
Do you use this? Why? Is it common in certain places? I don’t think the individuals in question are from the same region or culture.
Best Wishes or Best Regards, I think. I still use Best Regards a lot. I think I picked it up when communicating with colleagues from England.
I use it because I am the best…
Best Wishes, Best Regards, All the Best (to you), etc.
Terribly civilized, isn’t it?
I hope all the best things in the world happen to you,
Chessic Sense
I hate it. My boss does it, and I think [del]she[/del] it is prissy.
I use it occasionally. It’s just short for Best Regards.
My internet-school prof’s were all doing this, almost like they were instructed to. Either ‘All the best’ or just ‘Best’; both sound affected to me.
I’ve seen senior staff do it on occasion. And one of my colleagues does it regularly. I agree it seems affected. If you’re too busy to write “regards” then why waste all that time writing out B-e-s-t. Just slap a “B” down there and be done with it…
B
Aesop
“Best.” It’s quick and easy to type, it’s warmer than “Sincerely,” but not as intimate as “Hugs!” and it translates into the shorhand for a lot of colloquial sign-offs, such as those **In Winnipeg **listed. Never thought it sounded affected, not to my ears. (Eyes?)
Need an alternative?
At work, I send a bazillion emails a day, many of which are not requests but simply confirmation that X has been done, so “Thanks, Purple” isn’t the way to go, since, really, I’ve nothing to be grateful for, as I’m the one who’s done the work. “Have a nice day” is a tad formal and dry for me, so I’ve been using “Cheers! Purple” as a standard sign-off. Sounds friendly without being too intimate, methinks, and no one’s said otherwise.
I prefer that folks sign their letters to me with “Your obedient servant,” but that’s just me. 
If you’re too busy to write out “I give you my best regards,” why bother writing the letter at all? :rolleyes:
Anything formulaic is going to be prone to shortening, especially as the communication gets more casual.
Sounds weird to me. Either use nothing before my signature, or often “Regards”. For friends I might use “Take care”. I’ve been known to use “Fervently yours” if I want to be funny.
I think Europeans use it a lot-- it’s the standard in Dutch, if memory of experience serves correctly. Not considered inordinately informal-- friendly semi-formal.
I’m an American, and I’ve closed with “best” for as long as I’ve had emails.
It would not be the first time I’ve been called prissy, I suppose.
This seems incredibly common in academia, and I have mostly noticed it used among males. My professors, my husband’s professors and Sr. Olives himself (as a TA) uses it. Another common one is ‘‘Warmly.’’
I don’t feel particularly strongly about it one way or another.
I have seen Warmly or Best Regards but never best alone.
Best what? It seems stunted.
There are three ways I sign off on emails: “thanks,” “love,” and “best.” I thus end up using “best” a lot as the default when neither of the other two is appropriate.
Because I use email at work to convey messages that are necessary, relevant and important. Unlike my postings on a message board. 
This is already happening. I know people who use the following email valedictions:
/R for regards
B/R for best regards
W/R for warm regards