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Original poster

Colleague's fluffy language!

117 replies

Mk9821 · 11/01/2026 21:11

Just received an out of office reply to an email sent to my colleague.
"currently at this present time I'm not at work abd not going to be back in the office till xxx".
She never gets straight to the point, why to some people use overly fluffy and round the houses ways of saying something that can be summarised in a few words?

OP posts:
NeverDropYourMooncup · 13/01/2026 18:34

It could be much, much fluffier - and there is only one typo in the entire message.

I think some people at work must be on a mission to fit as many spelling mistakes, their's, theres, yours and pluralistic apostrophes (or should that be 'apostrophe's'?) in every out of office and auto acknowledgement message.

My external ones say something along the lines of 'xxx office is closed until 9am Monday 15th Whatever. In an emergency, please contact emergencyemail@ or telephone 020receptionnumber'. My internal ones say 'Back 9.00am Monday 15th Whatever. Please contact Linemanager Email if urgent'.

LlynTegid · 13/01/2026 18:33

I am with you OP. I don't call a spade a horticultural gardening implement.

StarlightLady · 13/01/2026 18:32

It’s clumsy English. But as long as people can understand the thrust of the message and the typo “adn” is changed does it matter?

PGmicstand · 13/01/2026 18:32

Snipples · 11/01/2026 21:14

That is pretty to the point and fairly standard for an out of office, what exactly would you expect her to say?

A better way would be to say
I am out of the office until [date]. If your issue is urgent please contact [name] in my absence.

Snugglything · 13/01/2026 18:16

HoseGoblin · 11/01/2026 21:19

I get it, it's the difference between "I'm out of office until x anything urgent can be directed to x" and "forsooth verily I will not be available for correspondence until the waxing gibbous of the tenth day of middletide, your questions, queries and lamentations will be received and resolved joyously by my virtuous desk partner until such time as I am available again."

I had to consciously make my everyday correspondence less purple when I realised how annoying it is lmao, I was doing it because I didn't want to come across blunt and rude with single sentence responses to things.

I’m SO using this for my next out of office response 😂😂😂

BillieWiper · 13/01/2026 11:49

SpringBulbsPop · 12/01/2026 22:32

😆 I cringe to my back teeth with the people who refer to themselves as “myself” - arrrgh STFU you think it sounds clever but you sound like a thick twat!!!

Edited
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Haha. I know. It's appalling. Like they think it sounds really formal, and they somehow have acquired some elevated social standing?!

Dumb fucks. 🤣

Strawberrryfields · 13/01/2026 03:04

SpringBulbsPop · 12/01/2026 22:30

What sounds more professional?

Show quote history

Keeping it simple and without the repetition of currently and at this present time.

Sunshineandblueskysalltheway · 13/01/2026 00:41

nomas · 12/01/2026 22:35

Lol what? You think saying ‘currently’ and ‘at the present time’ in the same sentence is fairly standard?

Show quote history

Being unable to write properly is absolutely fairly standard.

SALaw · 12/01/2026 23:27

I have a client that writes like that. I think he thinks it’s more formal sounding. But he’s a nice guy and way more appreciative of my work than many others so I do an inner eye roll at the language and move on.

Bombinia · 12/01/2026 23:12

FullLondonEye · 12/01/2026 18:46

People seem to do this when they're trying to sound more intelligent. It doesn't work. See also 'myself'.

This. I would read that from the OP and just think that person was thick.

Aquarius91 · 12/01/2026 23:00

People write like this because they think it makes them sound intelligent. It actually has the opposite effect.

Tootingbec · 12/01/2026 22:54

Clunky but better than the nauseous OOO some people at my work write, along the lines of

“ I am taking a much needed holiday with my family, making memories and enjoying some down time!” or possibly worse “I am away this week delivering impactful work to our clients and changing peoples lives as a result!”

So cringe! Wouldn’t mind so much if it was some funky marketing agency but it is a very corporate global management consultancy firm!!

ScaredOfFlying · 12/01/2026 22:51

There is a brilliant book called Wankernomics that came out this Christmas and has some very funny observations on corporate speak. It’s half price in Waterstones at the moment. Treat yourself to it OP!

Mybestdecadeyet · 12/01/2026 22:49

TheCurious0range · 12/01/2026 18:56

At the opposite end of the spectrum one of my colleagues put her out of office on Friday as she was off for the day. It just said. BACK MONDAY
Capitals, no who to contact, forwarding email etc. Not even her name/footer.
I like her a lot.

the rest ‘so p**s off’ didn’t need typing!

Mybestdecadeyet · 12/01/2026 22:44

HoseGoblin · 11/01/2026 21:19

I get it, it's the difference between "I'm out of office until x anything urgent can be directed to x" and "forsooth verily I will not be available for correspondence until the waxing gibbous of the tenth day of middletide, your questions, queries and lamentations will be received and resolved joyously by my virtuous desk partner until such time as I am available again."

I had to consciously make my everyday correspondence less purple when I realised how annoying it is lmao, I was doing it because I didn't want to come across blunt and rude with single sentence responses to things.

😂

No one would write that waffle!

nomas · 12/01/2026 22:39

Many women are conditioned this way, OP. See also language like

‘I just wanted to check’

’I was just wondering’

’Can I just check’

’Would it be ok if’

’I wondered if’

’Would it be possible’

Women use language like this much more than men, to be liked. They really don’t need to.

PotatoWafflerWrites · 12/01/2026 22:38

Why do you care? Bizarre that her writing a few extra words to what you would annoy you. I find the idea that we should all sound the same in emails sad and irritating.

And to the people who don't like those who don't get to the point- You'd loathe my emails, they frequently read back as a bit waffley and I regularly (I'm guessing) use myself and yourself in what I think people here think is the wrong context.

However, I write quickly. People get the message that I'm trying to get across. There's a few more words than some people want. I can't see the issue. But small-minded people who don't like me much probably sneer.

nomas · 12/01/2026 22:35

Snipples · 11/01/2026 21:14

That is pretty to the point and fairly standard for an out of office, what exactly would you expect her to say?

Lol what? You think saying ‘currently’ and ‘at the present time’ in the same sentence is fairly standard?

SpringBulbsPop · 12/01/2026 22:32

BillieWiper · 12/01/2026 18:51

Yeah that's about double the number of words necessary.

Does she constantly refer to herself as 'myself'?

'At this present time myself and Gary are proceeding to contemplate a range of varied sustenance options. If you would like to be involved in the round table discussion on this subject going forward, please liaise with myself at 1pm for a debrief.'

As opposed to 'Me and Gary are going to get lunch, not sure what yet. If you want anything let me know when I'm going'.

Edited

😆 I cringe to my back teeth with the people who refer to themselves as “myself” - arrrgh STFU you think it sounds clever but you sound like a thick twat!!!

SpringBulbsPop · 12/01/2026 22:30

Strawberrryfields · 11/01/2026 21:39

I think people think it sounds more professional but it just sounds a bit cringe to me.

What sounds more professional?

SpringBulbsPop · 12/01/2026 22:29

Snipples · 11/01/2026 21:14

That is pretty to the point and fairly standard for an out of office, what exactly would you expect her to say?

This.

fetchacloth · 12/01/2026 22:26

Seems fine to me, pretty much what I would put.

RandomMess · 12/01/2026 20:38

@BitOutOfPractice isn’t it just wonderful!

DuchessofStaffordshire · 12/01/2026 19:52

She could at least have added: 'yourself can expect to hear back from myself after xxxx date'.

FaceDownInAPuddle · 12/01/2026 19:35

A very fluffy thread.