Internal talk should be free of jargon
It’s called a valediction. The way you close a letter or e-mail. As a mark of appreciation, you could end your mail with ‘Thanks’ or ‘Many thanks’ or a simple ‘Thank you.’
You could have a professional closing with ‘Best regards’ or ‘Warm regards’ or, even simply, ‘Best.’
If you wish to be formal to someone in power or is senior to you, you write ‘Respectfully’, ‘Sincerely’ or ’Sincerely yours.’
To close in a friendly manner, you write ‘Cheers’, ‘All my best’ or ‘Keep in touch.’
Valedictions and mood
Like with any form of writing, valedictions give a clue to the mood of the writer. If you use a plain and simple ‘Best’ as part of your signature, that too is a decision to be neutral and faceless.
If someone you just got to know moves from ‘Yours sincerely’ to ‘Best regards’ to ‘Cheers’ inside of a week, you must be doing something right. They are obviously warming up to you.Valedictions, of course, come from the earlier world of hand-written letters and formal relationships. Thanks to the British civil service, the phrase ‘I remain, sir, your most humble and obedient servant’ was a familiar closing.
An arrogant and irreverent (though loveable) character like Samuel Johnson wrote this in closing to a Lord Chesterfield: ‘Your lordship’s most humble, most obedient servant, Samuel Johnson.’ It was a formality. Not a sucking up.
Royal etiquette
According to royal etiquette today, if you are a government boffin in the UK writing to King Charles, you are expected to close with ‘Your Royal Highness’s most humble and obedient servant. Regards.’
All this business about servility and obedience of the 18th century got abbreviated to ‘Yours faithfully’ in later times. And, as a less boot-licking variation, ‘Yours sincerely.’
In today’s world of haste, emojis and who-cares-for-niceties aggression, there is no place for implied subservience even. Which is why the neutral ‘Best’ is popular. It says nothing much, asks for nothing much and merely marks the ending of an e-mail.
Homilies and morals
In the early days of e-mail, we had homilies that put out a moral or some uplifting thought (like many a LinkedIn post today.) A clever signature line, you hoped, put out a pretty picture of your soul. I myself used to use as a signature, ‘It’s all good in the end. If it’s not good, it’s not the end.’
There are wacky ones being used today occasionally. Like, ‘Stay luminous, stay hydrated.’