Letter: Closing - 'Best,' vs. 'Bests,' (2025)

C

chaz

New Member

America English

  • May 17, 2005
  • #1

Which is correct? Or are they both acceptable? Does it depend on the formality of the letter? Example:

Team members,

I am looking forward to seeing all of you at this evenings meeting. It should be truly memorable.

Bests,

Chaz

  • M

    mnzrob

    Senior Member

    Denver, Colorado USA

    Chicago English and German

    • May 17, 2005
    • #2

    chaz said:

    Which is correct? Or are they both acceptable? Does it depend on the formality of the letter? Example:

    Team members,

    I am looking forward to seeing all of you at this evenings meeting. It should be truly memorable.

    Bests,

    Chaz

    If i were you I would write
    Best Regards,
    Chaz

    I don't know, just writing "Best" sounds kind of open to me, and I've never heard "Bests" as a closing. That's just my opinion. Well, i guess "Best" could work...
    Also, small correction, i think it should be "this evening's meeting".

    Rob

    J

    jacinta

    Senior Member

    California

    USA English

    • May 17, 2005
    • #3

    I've never seen "bests". It sounds strange to me.

    All my best
    Best regards

    GenJen54

    Senior Member

    Downright Pleasant, USA

    USA - English

    • Oct 18, 2005
    • #4

    So as not to drift too far off this thread's topic, I agree with the others that "bests" is completely foreign to me.

    If this is a business letter, or even inter-office correspondence as has been suggested, I would "err" on the side of formality:

    Regards
    Best Regards
    Sincerely

    Any of these seem appropriate given the context.

    panjandrum

    Senior Member

    Belfast, Ireland

    English-Ireland (top end)

    • Oct 18, 2005
    • #5

    Best has to be an abbreviation of something else.
    As far as I am concerned, if someone hasn't the time to write/type what best things they are wishing me, I'd rather they didn't bother.
    They might as well sign themselves off:
    B
    Panj

    PS. Of course the apostrophe is required.

    elroy

    Moderator: EHL, Arabic, Hebrew, German(-Spanish)

    Chicago, IL

    US English, Palestinian Arabic bilingual

    • Oct 18, 2005
    • #6

    Nevertheless, I've seen "best" as a closing. I think of it as an abbreviation of "all the best." Never seen "bests," though.

    PS - this evening's meeting - no doubt about it.

    J

    jwesley

    Member

    Las Vegas, NV

    US - English

    • Oct 18, 2005
    • #7

    "Best" is short for "best wishes" natch. "Bests" is not correct.

    Isotta

    Senior Member

    France

    English

    • Oct 18, 2005
    • #8

    Oh yes, the sempiternal "Best." Personally I more or less abhor it, though I imagine this is a personal skirmish, as is "Thanks much" and worse, "Do you want to go with?" Some of my professors close their emails with it--the ones I respect most, even--and I don't know way.

    As for its origin, I always thought it was short for "best regards," though it could come from other expressions such as "my best to you and yours," etc.It is undoubtedly informal, so you would only use it in business if you knew the person well.

    Z.

    panjandrum

    Senior Member

    Belfast, Ireland

    English-Ireland (top end)

    • Oct 18, 2005
    • #9

    Moving into conciliatory mood for some reason.

    It is likely that "Bests" this is a friendly closing used routinely by this team. In that case I wouldn't be concerned, much. I am sure they have many other concise ways of communicating amongst themselves.

    However, if I got a communication with "Bests" at the end I would be irritated. Jargon needs to be used carefully, and only among those who can be expected to understand.

    M

    miguelitoATX

    New Member

    Austin, TX

    USA- English

    • Aug 12, 2008
    • #10

    I often see "Best," used to close letters, although not frequently formal ones. I don't mind it, but my parents think it sounds ridiculous and claim to have never seen it before seeing me use it.

    I have never heard of "Bests". It might be a typo, or something that only that certain "in-group" uses. Sounds silly to me though!

    P

    PMS-CC

    Senior Member

    Central Coast, California

    USA, English

    • Aug 12, 2008
    • #11

    I use "Best," to close letters among colleagues. I'm never sure if they'd prefer wishes or regards so I let them assume I meant the one they like to receive.

    "Bests," strikes me as a bit odd.

    S

    skyemail

    Banned

    English

    • Nov 10, 2011
    • #12

    Many people agree that "Bests" sounds weird and is incorrect.
    Ending a message with "Best" is equally weird and meaningless.
    The word "best" is an adjective which means it describes a noun - it does not stand alone.
    Lots of people have seen this closing to a message, but that does not make it correct.
    A closing is an implied thought. Something like "Regards" or "Love" implies that your are sending your regard or love to someone.
    When closing with only an adjective like "best" - the result it to imply something that implies something.
    In that case, you imply that you are sending something, but not saying what - only that it is the best.
    That is taking the implication a level too far.

    Another case sometimes heard is to admit a mistake by using the term "my bad".
    Again, an adjective is used without a noun. The term is then meaningless.
    Some argue that if we understand what a person says, the form is not important.
    It will be interesting to see how far the English language can go by leaving out words here and there so that meanings are implied rather than stated.

    Skye

    S

    skyemail

    Banned

    English

    • Nov 10, 2011
    • #13

    elroy said:

    Nevertheless, I've seen "best" as a closing. I think of it as an abbreviation of "all the best." Never seen "bests," though.

    If someone has too little time or concern to spell out the closing they mean -
    I prefer it be omitted rather than abbreviate it into oblivion...

    Skye

    PS - this evening's meeting - no doubt about it.

    L

    lucas-sp

    Senior Member

    English - Californian

    • Nov 11, 2011
    • #14

    Sorry, what? Adjectives can't go without nouns? What about substantives/nominalizations? (He's a socialist; he reads the Socialist International. He cares about the poor and the downtrodden.)

    You list "best" and "bad" as adjectives that cannot be used alone. What about "You have to take the good with the bad"? Or, say, "I promise that if you hire me for this position I'll give you nothing less than my best"?

    (Also, "best" isn't just an adjective. Think about "she's the best-dressed in the class" for a minute.)

    Look, you can come up with a million good reasons not to use "best" in the salutation of a letter. But you have to come up with a good reason, not a nonsensical one. Apparently lots of these posters find "best" too flippant and impersonal; in my own experience, I've seen so many emails end in "best" that it doesn't bother me.

    Finally, what about the common and proper salutation "Yours"? That's clearly a descriptor, not a substantive. The rule "salutations must be nouns" just doesn't hold water, sorry, over and above the comment about adjectives needing nouns.

    Loob

    Senior Member

    English UK

    • Nov 11, 2011
    • #15

    Lucas, regardless of whether you think "Best" is an appropriate way to end an email - it doesn't worry me particularly, though I don't use it myself - have you ever seen "Bests"?

    I haven't, myself....

    K

    kalamazoo

    Senior Member

    US, English

    • Nov 11, 2011
    • #16

    "I wish you nothing but the best" is an example of a rather vague "best." That having been said, I note that my British correspondents tend to close their emails with "Best wishes" or "Best regards" so now I do the same.

    L

    lucas-sp

    Senior Member

    English - Californian

    • Nov 11, 2011
    • #17

    Exactly. I've never seen "bests."

    I guess I could imagine a situation in which "bests" would be used to make some sort of a joke on the verb "to best." Like, say:

    Well, I have to go attend to the preparations for my father's funeral. A grim task indeed. Which,

    bests,
    Lucas

    But that would be pretty exceptional, in my opinion.

    S

    sfpic

    New Member

    English - US

    • Jul 6, 2012
    • #18

    chaz said:

    Which is correct? Or are they both acceptable? Does it depend on the formality of the letter? Example:

    Team members,

    I am looking forward to seeing all of you at this evenings meeting. It should be truly memorable.

    Bests,

    Chaz

    "Bests" is a relic from when e-mail and text messaging was shiny and new. "Bests" meant "Best regards and best wishes" in one. This affectation was pretty popular for a while. It went out of fashion maybe 10 or 15 years ago. In other words, some day in the future, there will be a thread asking, "What did LOL used to mean?"

    Loob

    Senior Member

    English UK

    • Jul 6, 2012
    • #19

    Welcome to the forums, sfpic!

    That sounds like a very wise comment to meLetter: Closing - 'Best,' vs. 'Bests,' (8).

    ewie

    Senior Member

    Manchester 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇬🇧

    English English

    • Jul 7, 2012
    • #20

    Perhaps bests is just a deformed second cousin of latersLetter: Closing - 'Best,' vs. 'Bests,' (10)

    Mr. Bee

    New Member

    American English

    • Jan 28, 2021
    • #21

    I know this is old, but for the record--I had a very savvy English professor from New Zealand who signed her letters, "Bests, Dr. Liebert."

    I asked her about this at one point, and she said this was common where she came from. So maybe it's a just a convention from there?

    DonnyB

    Moderator Emeritus

    Coventry, UK

    English UK Southern Standard English

    • Jan 28, 2021
    • #22

    I think I've seen (and possibly received) emails signed off with "Bests". It could be a regional thing or just peoples' personal preference. I'm not keen on it and wouldn't use it, but then I don't use the singular "Best" either.

    sound shift

    Senior Member

    Derby (central England)

    English - England

    • Jan 28, 2021
    • #23

    I've just been banging on in another part of the forum about how English adjectives don't conjugate for number, but now it seems that they do.Letter: Closing - 'Best,' vs. 'Bests,' (14)

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