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"Best" what? These things may be somewhat culturally determined (including office/corporate culture). To me, "best" reads as mindless as any other. In fact, t

"Best" what? These things may be somewhat culturally determined (including office/corporate culture). To me, "best" reads as mindless as any other. In fact, they all read as mindless to me, probably because in most cases they literally are mindless. You choose one and write it automatically in nearly every message. That's not to say they're useless. Politeness in social interactions is filled with formulaic, almost ritualistics niceties. I just don't think there's all that much difference in meaning between these common formulaic responses. Take care, Another Internet Rando

egfx 5y ago
“Best” is the worst. Like it’s the best you’ve got. And there is no interest or room for negotiation, development or debate. “Thanks” likewise isn’t very good and sounds too impersonal and somewhat dismissive. I started using “thank you” for a more sincere, serious tone in business communication. I use it because “regards” irks me for some reason.
dsr_ 5y ago
Originally, "My best wishes to you and yours".
mellavora 5y ago
> I just don't think there's all that much difference in meaning between these common formulaic responses. My father agrees, and for a time his standard greeting to colleagues were these words: "Friendly Noise" I've tried it a few times. I get strange looks at first, but people adopt.
- vidarh 5y ago
  On moving to the UK and for the first time using English "full time" it took me longer than it should have to get used to "how are you?" as merely a "friendly noise". At first I found it incredibly rude how people would ask me a question and then keep walking while I stopped to start answering their question.
  - hdjjhhvvhga 5y ago
    Well, because it's not a question.
    - vidarh 5y ago
      I know that now, hence why that is the first thing my comment makes clear. The point was that it's not at all obvious that it's not a question to someone not used to it being used as a greeting, given that it's worded as a question, and the intonation is given as a question, and given that many places in the world you wouldn't say the equivalent unless you're actually asking a question. English feels to me to be pretty extreme relative to other languages with respect to the sheer number of terms that have been reduced to "friendly noises" and stripped of all meaning, to the point that it leads to the number of comments in this thread discussing the nuances of terms the sender most of the time has put no thought into. I still tend to feel someone who throws out a "friendly noise" like this are usually being rude by using a question as a greeting, because whether you like it or not, it's implicitly acknowledging you don't really care, and so I avoid using it.
      - ck425 5y ago
        I wonder why this is. I only speak english so don't have other languages to compare it to. But we use a lot of idioms too, is that also less common in other languages? Could it be because of the wide range of cultures that speak English as their first and only language? I know there are other languages as or more widely natively spoken (Spanish and Mandarin come to mind) but isn't it common for native speakers of those languages to also natively speak local languages and/or dialects. Could the number of "friendly noises" and idioms in English be because most english speakers only speak english? In your specific case (ie coming to the UK) you've also the interesting thing where lots of americanisms have been adopted here, while still Britishisms remain. Different regions of Britain also strongly maintain a lot of their own "isms" (Scottish-isms for example) and we still tend to use them with other brits out of local pride. So depending where you are in the UK (London would be the extreme example) you'd likely hear Americanisms and Britishisms on a daily basis plus various region specific isms if you were often around people from those areas.

egfx 5y ago

“Best” is the worst. Like it’s the best you’ve got. And there is no interest or room for negotiation, development or debate. “Thanks” likewise isn’t very good and sounds too impersonal and somewhat dismissive. I started using “thank you” for a more sincere, serious tone in business communication. I use it because “regards” irks me for some reason.

dsr_ 5y ago

Originally, "My best wishes to you and yours".

mellavora 5y ago

> I just don't think there's all that much difference in meaning between these common formulaic responses. My father agrees, and for a time his standard greeting to colleagues were these words: "Friendly Noise" I've tried it a few times. I get strange looks at first, but people adopt.

vidarh 5y ago
On moving to the UK and for the first time using English "full time" it took me longer than it should have to get used to "how are you?" as merely a "friendly noise". At first I found it incredibly rude how people would ask me a question and then keep walking while I stopped to start answering their question.
- hdjjhhvvhga 5y ago
  Well, because it's not a question.
  - vidarh 5y ago
    I know that now, hence why that is the first thing my comment makes clear. The point was that it's not at all obvious that it's not a question to someone not used to it being used as a greeting, given that it's worded as a question, and the intonation is given as a question, and given that many places in the world you wouldn't say the equivalent unless you're actually asking a question. English feels to me to be pretty extreme relative to other languages with respect to the sheer number of terms that have been reduced to "friendly noises" and stripped of all meaning, to the point that it leads to the number of comments in this thread discussing the nuances of terms the sender most of the time has put no thought into. I still tend to feel someone who throws out a "friendly noise" like this are usually being rude by using a question as a greeting, because whether you like it or not, it's implicitly acknowledging you don't really care, and so I avoid using it.
    - ck425 5y ago
      I wonder why this is. I only speak english so don't have other languages to compare it to. But we use a lot of idioms too, is that also less common in other languages? Could it be because of the wide range of cultures that speak English as their first and only language? I know there are other languages as or more widely natively spoken (Spanish and Mandarin come to mind) but isn't it common for native speakers of those languages to also natively speak local languages and/or dialects. Could the number of "friendly noises" and idioms in English be because most english speakers only speak english? In your specific case (ie coming to the UK) you've also the interesting thing where lots of americanisms have been adopted here, while still Britishisms remain. Different regions of Britain also strongly maintain a lot of their own "isms" (Scottish-isms for example) and we still tend to use them with other brits out of local pride. So depending where you are in the UK (London would be the extreme example) you'd likely hear Americanisms and Britishisms on a daily basis plus various region specific isms if you were often around people from those areas.