Time to Do Away with "Best" as an Email Sign-Off

In the hierarchy of email signoffs, by far the worst is 'Best'. Maybe it's just me, but nothing displays contempt more succinctly, or says "Leave me the hell alone from this point forward," as concisely as this most reviled of four-letter words. Here's the other encrypted message hidden in this verbal snub: Unlike you, I am too busy and important for a far more acceptable 'All the best'. Two extra words. Would it kill you?

In these troubled times, legions of the scared and unemployed are drawing upon every drop of courage to email even the most tenuous of leads. Nothing takes more confidence -- increasingly in short supply -- than contacting somebody cold. If and when a return email appears in the inbox (the tension of which deserves another column entirely) a little warmth would go a very long way. 'Best' with all of its chilly undertones, assumes power and conveys just enough insult to make the message of annoyance clear.

Meanwhile, the barriers between the privileged and the destitute are falling. We all share the same high wire and it is a terrifying place to be. Today's most powerful could be tomorrow's most hopeless. Put more bluntly, for every person with a corner office, the pavement outside is altogether too visible. Circumstances should be forcing us to move to a higher, more cooperative plane, citizen to citizen. Which means signing off more generously. Which means banning 'Best' from our e-vocabulary. Surely we can do better.

It's not just prospective employers who are over-relying on this infernal sign-off. The word is everywhere, and rarely does it mean best anything. From school letters to bill collectors to perfunctory correspondence with your lawyer or accountant, our societal need for electronic shorthand is slowly stripping our humanity. Best. Best what exactly? Best wishes? Best of luck? These would impart respect or at least a little consideration. The best is yet to come? (Then give me a job interview.) More likely it appears to mean, I wish you the best in your future endeavors as long as they don't involve me. Alone with no ellipsis, 'Best' lets you know where you stand: the bottom of the sign-off food chain, way below Love, xxoo, xx, xo, x, Warm regards, Sincerely yours, and the dubiously perky Cheers.

Today there was an email from Howard Dean -- Howard Dean! -- in my inbox. I was procrastinating so I read the whole thing, which he signed, 'Thank you, Marcia, for all you do'. I have never met Howard Dean, and realize I was one of three or so million recipients of this letter, but all the same, the sign-off was genuinely warm. It was a small gesture, but a noticeable one. Had it been signed 'Best', I would have felt a blast of icy air through my laptop, and had my doubts about the DFA's interpersonal skills.

We are all too rushed, plugged in, ever on the grid, and have more demands on our time than most of us can bear. So when it comes to email, courtesy is easily jettisoned to make way for speed and efficiency. But we could all try to be more conscious of the emailing habits we seem to readily adopt, that keep us disconnected and even more isolated from each other. 'Yours' is more human, 'Fondly' is a trusty perennial which conveys affection but not devotion, and as for abbreviations, nothing beats the military's 'VR', short for 'Very Respectfully', which could do a lot towards making a job-seeker feel human and whole. Pete Best was the only Beatle not to make it past 1962, and I embrace the symbolism: my hope is that 'Best,' the most unsubtle, unfriendly of email cold shoulders, will have a similarly short career.

Comments

[Jessica Guff]

No, it's not "just" you: as far as I am concerned, "Best" is annoying and insincere. I do think you have to know someone pretty well for the warmth of a "Love" or even a "Fondly" but xoxo seems to be pretty prevalent these days as does impart a sense of affection. Taken in the context of a work related email or letter I believe "Best" IS a brush off -- why NOT sign off "Sincerely" as in "I sincerely don't have a job for you at the moment because we are in the midst of a major world wide recession"? Indeed, I would much prefer the "sincere" truth to an obviously insincere throwaway "Best". Who's "Best" is it anyway?!?!?! Who is the author to offer anyone the "Best" and not follow through with an actual contract, position, paycheck, etc.? Still, I do agree that two simple preceding words make all the difference. And
All the best,
Jess

[liviapeacock]

Its true. People will complain about ANYTHING.

I always use "Best", not as a way of proving power or insincerity, but as a succinct way to wish someone well. I write hundreds of emails a day, it is tryuly the best I can do. Please get over yourself, you're waaaaay too sensitive and read too much into nothing.

Best,
Liviapeacock

[iheartsmartpeople]

Everyone I work with uses "Regards," which I guess is basically along the same lines as "Best" in that they couldn't even add the additional BEST to the REGARDS to make it even slightly more lukewarm than it would have been at just "Regards". =|

[bogpony]

I never realized how obnoxious this sign-off is until your very funny post Marcia, and I have received it in letters, not just emails. I never know how to sign-off. The minute I type "sincerely," I feel insincere. "Best wishes?" So tired. I've received some emails recently with the sign-off, "blessings, so-and-so" Blessings? Really?

[newjerseybadger]

"Maybe it's just me, but..."
Yup. It's just you.

[spacethought]

I have suffered the insidious jabs of "best" and even started "best" discussions. Unanimously people feel disgust with the word and render the users crazy phony. What is it about signing off "best" that is so offensive? It's the only sign-off I associate with a flip-off and it undoubtedly erases any illusion to friendship present or possible once it appears darkly at the end of a missive. As soon as I read it my computer becomes encased in icicles.

I especially feel sorry for all those imitators who blindly offend in the name of assumed protocol. How nice for you. Must be nice. Best. Feel the aggression? I agree it's time to say "farewell" to "best"

[redbackpack]

totally agree "best" is stone cold

[fairwitness]

No, "Best" is shorthand, completely in keeping with email etiquette. Email is not formal, not a business letter. It is casual, quick and, usually, familiar. I think your reaction to "Best" and your characterization of it as A "snub", "an icy blast", "chilly", "insult", "infernal", etc., is just silly. That is, if you are serious--maybe I missed the post-modern irony in your mock demand for "two extra words".

What difference adding "All the" makes is beyond me. I suppose you spell out completely those words for which the rest of us use convenient contractions? Do you not?

Some things are simply implied--and if you read "icy snub" into "Best", you are projecting your own anqst onto a benign convention accepted by a very large majority as simply that: a convenient way to avoid typing any more words than necessary. Like I've just done, I guess.

Do red stop lights also make you angry?

[dannyo152]

Really? I never saw one. I never used one. I better do something about it before it becomes fully declasse. Something for the task list. In the meantime,

Best

Dan

[Andrea Chalupa - Huffpost Blogger]

Yeah, but, if the email is cold or not what the recipient hoped for, even "All the best" will sound cold. But you're right, we should all be more sensitive and compassionate these days, so it pays dividends to the other person to sign off the message with something sincere and encouraging.