‘Apologies for any confusion!’: how to write the perfect passive-aggressive email

In a survey, ‘just to be clear’ came out as the most loathed phrase. But I think I can do better A new contender for the most passive-aggressive email phrase has emerged.

“Just to be clear” was chosen by 52% of desk jockeys in a survey by email verification company ZeroBounce, closely followed by the perennial pass-ag fave, “per my last email” (40%), which tied with the identical-in-intent “as previously discussed”. Further down the list came “for future reference” and “kindly note”. If you ask me, these all verge on actual aggressive. Imagine saying “just to be clear” out loud to another person: that’s a conversational poke in the ribs, isn’t…