Pop Culture dictionary
best friend
or bestie or bff [best frend] or [best-ee] or [bee-ef-ef]
What does聽best friend mean?
Best friend is a term of endearment for one鈥檚 closest and most cherished friend.
Where does best friend come from?
Given the social and psychological importance of friendship to the human experience, it may not be surprising to learn that record of the phrase best friend can be found in the early 1200s, with evidence in Old English of reference to the concept even earlier.
The significance of best friendships, especially in childhood and adolescence, has inspired informal terms, including the shortened bestie and the text-speak BFF (鈥渂est friends forever鈥�), both emerging at least by the 1990s. The deliberately baby-talkish best fwend also enjoys some colloquial usage.
The phrase is featured in several prominent popular songs, from rock group Queen鈥檚 1976 鈥淵ou鈥檙e My Best Friend鈥� to rapper Young Thug鈥檚 2015 single 鈥淏est Friend.鈥� Popular books and films have featured best friend in their titles (and subject matters) as well, including the 1982 film Best Friends starring Goldie Hawn and Burt Reynolds.
Some schools in the US, however, have actually considered banning the term best friends because they fear it might exclude other students or promote unhealthy attachments.
Examples of best friend
Who uses best friend?
While it is widely used by people throughout their lives, the identification of persons as one鈥檚 best friend can be more frequent among children and young adults. Thus, use of the phrase can come across as juvenile in certain contexts. However, it is common for spouses to characterize their relationships as being with their best friends.
Bestie and bff enjoy broader use as informal terms for best friends, especially among young to young-adult female writers or speakers.
Best friends aren鈥檛 always people. Like man鈥檚 best friend鈥攁 favorite endearment for our companionship with canines since at least the 1840s. People tend to attribute the best friend label to inanimate objects of value as well. For example, an enthusiastic gamer might jokingly refer to the Nintendo Switch as his best friend.
Note
This is not meant to be a formal definition of best friend like most terms we define on 亚洲网紅露点, but is rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of best friend that will help our users expand their word mastery.