In the pursuit of sounding snooty, people often use "better" in place of "best". This trend seems to have started in the world of atheletes and sports commentators (top grammarians, all) and has spread from there.

"better" is the comparitive form, used to compare 2 [i]and only 2[/i] things.

"best" is the superlative form, used to compare more than 2 things.

-- "He is one of the better defencemen in the league."

Are there only two defencemen in the league? Should be:

-- "He is one of the best defencemen in the league."

-- "This is one of the better movies I have seen in a while."

You have only seen two movies? Should be:

-- "This is one of the best movies I have seen in a while."

People seem to think saying "better" softens the sentiment. They are too scared to say "best". They would rather be grammatically WRONG than risk offending anyone.

Be bold! Be correct! Write the [b]best[/b] sentences you can!