Funny: the hidden meaning of your work emails, explained

[mandarin.orange]

Some Friday humor:

 

"21 Things You Say In Work Emails, and What They Really Mean"

 

#4 seems especially relevant to prospective students, looking for potential advisors...or current students, trying to court new collaborators.

 

And #12 reminds me of the amazingly long and detailed "Signing your emails with 'Best'" thread here on Grad Cafe.

[maelia8]

Oh man #17 … or its variant, "thanks so much for your help." I am definitely guilty of ending practically every email I send to a department secretary with that. I guess I always thought if it as sort of a proactive way of saying I expect them to be kind enough to answer my question, but I guess it is pretty passive-agressive 

[CageFree]

I need to LOL on a Friday

[mandarin.orange]

I guess I always thought if it as sort of a proactive way of saying I expect them to be kind enough to answer my question, but I guess it is pretty passive-agressive 

 

Well, I use it too, and I think support admin like this are quite used to starting/ending every email with some sort of nicety. Certainly it's better than "Thanks in advance."

[the_sheath]

Wait crap, /I/ sign my emails with "thanks in advance"! That was bad?! Why?

Also why is it that turning passive aggression into a art form is such a huge part of adulthood?

[VioletAyame]

Well, I use it too, and I think support admin like this are quite used to starting/ending every email with some sort of nicety. Certainly it's better than "Thanks in advance."

I do that too, and sometimes I even thank them at the beginning of the emails, then "Thanks again for etc" at the end. I agree that they're probably used to it and it's always better to err on the (overly) polite way. And no, I don't think "Thanks in advance" is any way curt or passive aggressive. I've slowly realized that perhaps I put too much thoughts in the wording of emails on which the recipients will only spend a few seconds glimpsing for the main point. It's still important to be nice and grateful, but the exact wording doesn't matter so much as the tone and content of the whole email.

[mandarin.orange]

Hmm...guess I read once (long ago) that "thanks in advance" was passive-agressive, or implying there would not be enough time for a follow-up email after said thing was done to properly thank them. But I got that from a similar internet/article post like this (long ago), so who knows.

[juilletmercredi]

2 & 3 are DEFINITELY what I am thinking when I put those things in an email to my advisor.

 

I totally use "Thanks in advance" to be passive-aggressive.  It's my way of saying "You're totally going to do this."  Otherwise I just put a regular thank you, lol.

[themmases]

I enjoyed this, but they left off my favorite: rephrasing your request in a forward of your original email so they can see how long ago you asked.