Signing emails with "Best"

[ELM616]

If "Best" bothers the OP, I can only imagine how s/he will react to those emails where profs don't even sign anything at all, just let their email signature (i.e. dump of contact info) do the work.      Or the unsigned ones I get that simply say, "Sent from my iPhone/iPad.

I actually prefer these!

[ELM616]

In all fairness though, I think there might be a too much reading into this

All great posts guys but I'm not reading much into it. This was meant to be a light hearted and humorous post.

But it does still drive me bonkers

Edited June 2, 2013 by ELM616

[ELM616]

a shortened version of may the best of luck be with you - similar to may the force be with you. I think I'll start writing "Best of Force" now, that sounds good  

This is fantastic idea!!

[ELM616]

Dear OP,

I fear that you're worrying too much about letter sign offs.

Best,

33 1/3

Haha touché!

I think Professors should sign off like this:

Best of luck to you and yours. I'm sure your family will be very proud when you're awarded the Nobel prize because you're certainly more intelligent than I because I'm outdated and irrelevant but I'll still fail you if you don't keep in line.

Sincerely,

Prof Xxxx

Edited June 2, 2013 by ELM616

[mandarin.orange]

So part of my "OMG don't take this personally" post up-thread is that I use "Best" all. the. time. I must've been using it consistently on my weekly email to the lab undergrads, 'cause I just got a reply back from a sophomore about scheduling...

 

She signed it "Best."

 

I like to think I've made an impact...

 

MUAHAHAHA...  

 

Best,
mandarin.orange 

   

[1Q84]

Tangentially, I feel like I "over thank" in my emails. I mean I'm very appreciative of professors helping me but I feel like I thank 20 times a day! Does anyone think it might be a bit irritating? How can one avoid this pitfall while still appearing appropriately thankful?

[ELM616]

So part of my "OMG don't take this personally" post up-thread is that I use "Best" all. the. time. I must've been using it consistently on my weekly email to the lab undergrads, 'cause I just got a reply back from a sophomore about scheduling...

 

She signed it "Best."

 

I like to think I've made an impact...

 

MUAHAHAHA...  

 

Best,

mandarin.orange 

   

Haha Dang you mandarin.orange!!!!!!! You email her right now and tell her that "Best" is not approved in her undergraduate catalog! 

[nugget3]

I also hate "Best". It's not a full thought! That's my only problem with it. Best what??? 

 

Almost any other goodbye, or even none at all, is better than Best!

[wildviolet]

I don't love "best," but it doesn't offend me, either. I admit it sounds weird to my ears.

 

I use "thanks" a lot. When an email exchange starts to get long, I start using just my name, then just the first letter of my name.

 

When I'm writing to someone I don't know personally or in more formal situations, I use "sincerely."

 

"Warm regards" or "Cheers!" don't seem to fit my personality. My advisor just signs off with his name, even though his signature/contact info also appears below.

[toasterazzi]

I end emails with thanks if I'm actually thanking someone for something. But beyond that, I just have my standard informational signature for emails. Best, regards, and such never feel quite right to me.

[nugget]

_{I think it's just an abbreviated version of, All the best. At times I've written "all the best", but I have noticed Best gets used a lot so i've used it too a couple of times. But you're right. The abbreviated version doesn't sound that good and it doesn't take that much more time to write an extra two words to complete the thought so why not do it?}

[rmrda]

In my current office job, I tend to vary it depending on the person; I'll use 'best' when it's a short, quick email. Otherwise, I use 'best wishes' most of the time, occasionally "all the best" and with closer friends, I often use "cheers". I reserve "thanks" for when I'm actually thanking someone. 

 

It never occurred to me that someone might be offended or annoyed by the signature I chose, I guess I should think harder on this.... hmm. 

[wildviolet]

OK, so I use "thanks" 90% of the time. Is that weird if I'm actually not thanking someone? I mean, it could mean lots of things... like when I'm requesting something... I'll end with "thanks" as in "thank you for attending to my request." If I send out a memo to the research group, I'll say "thanks" as in "thanks for reading this message."

 

"Sincerely" seems too formal for emails to people in our research group or to my colleagues (unless it's official department business to all the grad students).

 

But, none of the others feels right to me, either. Hmmm...

Edited June 6, 2013 by wildviolet

[Jimbo2]

I just put my name. I'm boring.

[bfat]

This is so funny. I know several professors who use this, and I always noticed when they did. I was always like, "That's kind of an interesting way to sign off an email."

 

... and then I started teaching.

 

I would write emails to students, and be like, "How in Hell do I sign off? ... 'Best' it is!"

 

Seriously, sometimes it is the only thing that works.

[ANDS!]

Another thread for the "Grad Student Problems" Tumblr that exists only in my head.

[Leveret]

I usually sign emails to professors with "regards." Unfortunately, they often reply back with "best regards," leaving me feeling somehow inadequate.

[TakeruK]

I usually sign emails to professors with "regards." Unfortunately, they often reply back with "best regards," leaving me feeling somehow inadequate.

 

Clearly, you should counter with "Bester regards"

[kmitch]

I often use "All the best." I feel it conveys a certain informality, while still being polite. 

[guinevere29]

I use "best" as the closing of my emails. I hope it's not offending anyone, but I started using it because I thought it was a nice, polite way to end an email without sounding too formal or informal. 

[juilletmercredi]

I just use my name.  I have to admit I chuckled at the OP's post because I also dislike the use of "Best," especially because I've seen it at the end of some pretty passive-aggressive academic emails.  But I more dislike it because of bitterness about academia than the actual term itself, lmao.  ANd I realize that it's completely ridiculous.  It's just one of those really irrational things that annoys you for no reason.

[Arcadian]

1) This thread exists.

 

2) It's up to three pages.

 

3) Lol.

[Kwest]

I almost didn't want to post, because I love Arcadian's last post sooooo much...but

 

To all those saying that 'best' is an incomplete thought...then so is using 'regards' or 'sincerely'

 

(both of these incomplete thoughts could be read as, regards to your mother, sincerely didn't read your last email)

 

They're just words. Contextually and socially, we place enough meaning in singular words to understand a complete thought. Using a single word is often an incomplete thought if you completely ignore everything that came before it. All I'm saying is that this logic isn't reasonable to object 'best'

[33andathirdRPM]

Dear Kwest,

 

I think that you've supplied the BEST answer.

 

Cheers,

 

33 1/3

[acarol]

I always sign "best" to my profs in the first email I send to them.  In my experience, it is what most profs / TAs / etc use in their more formal emails with students.  

 

Then I wait to see how they sign off, and mirror that in future emails.  If they sign their response "cheers," for example, then I will switch to that. I see it as letting the prof determine how informal the email correspondence will be without any assumptions about friendliness / informality on my part.  

 

Personally, I prefer "cheers" and I sign off that way with my own students. 

Edited August 12, 2013 by acarol