An Overly Polite Email

Phrases like “if it is not too much trouble” and “I would be extremely grateful” turn a simple request for a document into a Victorian novel. The email grows heavy and ornate, and you read it three times to find the simplest point hiding somewhere between the greeting and the wish for a productive day ☕

🌘 Early in the morning, the Moon faces Venus. Venus, in astrology, tends to smooth the edges, so this shows up in a familiar way: saying something directly feels rude, and your hand starts wrapping a simple request in endless verbal lace.

Behind complicated phrasing there is usually some ordinary uncertainty about your right to ask for something. You think that adding one more “please” will make refusal harder, plus you are afraid of sounding too sharp.

Politeness can stay brief without losing either warmth or meaning, even on a Tuesday morning. In the end, after “good morning, send the report,” your spine does not need to stand at attention, and the correspondence finally takes up less space in your head 📱

Phrases like “if it is not too much trouble” turn a simple request into a Victorian novel.