There is a specific vocabulary that lives almost exclusively in professional email. You know it when you read it. "Circling back." "Looping you in." "As per my previous email." "Hope this helps."
These phrases are not wrong, exactly. But they carry a lot of baggage. Some signal passive aggression without the writer realizing it. Some are filler that adds length and removes clarity. Some have been used so many times they have stopped meaning anything.
Here are 25 corporate email phrases that are worth cutting, and plain replacements that do the same job better.
Corporate Email Lingo: Phrases That Signal Passive Aggression
1. "Per my last email..."
Everyone reads "per my last email" as "you should have already seen this," even when you have a completely legitimate reason to reference a previous message. It puts the recipient on the defensive before they have finished the sentence. A project manager who sends it after a missed Slack message is really just saying "read your email," with more syllables.
Quote or summarize the specific thing you are referencing instead: "In my Tuesday message I mentioned the deadline is Friday: does that still work on your end?" Same information, no subtext.
2. "As I previously mentioned..."
The problem: Same issue as above. Implies the recipient was not paying attention.
Instead: "Just to confirm, [the thing]." Or simply re-state it without attribution: "The budget ceiling for this project is $15K."
3. "Going forward..."
The problem: Almost always shows up right after something went wrong, functioning as a polite way of saying "don't do this again" without saying it directly. If a vendor missed a deadline and gets a "going forward, please submit deliverables on time" email, they hear the reprimand buried in the process language.
Instead: If there is a genuine process change, describe it neutrally: "From now on, please send invoices directly to accounting rather than to me." If you are actually addressing a problem, name it and address it directly instead of hiding it in a policy statement.
4. "Just to be clear..." and promote clear communication
The problem: It implies the other person was unclear, or that you are about to explain something they should have already understood. Said out loud in a meeting, it usually gets a small flinch.
Instead: Be clear without announcing it. Restate the thing plainly and move on to the next point.
5. "As you may recall..."
The problem: Another memory test. Implies the recipient forgot something they were supposed to remember.
Instead: Re-state the context briefly and without condescension: "When we spoke in March, we agreed to revisit pricing after Q1 results came in."
Filler Phrases That Add Nothing
6. "Hope this helps!" in business email
It shows up at the end of nearly every answer to a question, and of course you hope it helps, you just spent three paragraphs answering it. The phrase is reflexive padding, the email version of clearing your throat before walking away.
Cut it and end on the last useful sentence. If you genuinely want to signal openness, say something with content in it: "Let me know if you would like more detail on any of this."
7. "Please do not hesitate to reach out."
The problem: Stiff, formal, and meaningless. Everyone "does not hesitate to reach out" when they have a question: you do not need to grant them permission.
Instead: "Happy to answer any questions" or "Feel free to reply if you need to contact me about anything that is unclear."
8. "I wanted to reach out to..."
The problem: The email itself is the reaching out. Announcing your intention to do the thing you are already doing is like a phone call that opens with "I'm calling you." It adds a sentence to every message without adding a single fact.
Instead: Skip the preamble and start with the actual reason for the email.
9. "I just wanted to touch base..."
The problem: "Touch base" is vague and slightly sporty. Combined with "just" (which minimizes the email before it has started), the result is an email that sounds apologetic about its own existence.
Instead: Say what you are actually checking on. "I wanted to confirm we are on track for the Thursday client meeting" is more useful and more direct.
10. "Friendly reminder..."
The problem: The word "friendly" is doing a lot of heavy lifting here, and everyone knows it. A "friendly reminder" is still a reminder, and often arrives because someone has already missed a deadline or not responded.
Instead: Just send the reminder. "The proposal is due Friday: let me know if you need anything from my end to meet that." No need to pre-qualify the tone. For phrasing that avoids the passive-aggressive read entirely, see our friendly reminder email guide.
11. "As per usual..."
The problem: This phrase often comes across as dismissive or sarcastic, even when that is not the intent.
Instead: Say what is usual. "The invoices go to Alex in accounting, same process as last month."
12. "I'll let you know."
The problem: When used as a close, this commits to nothing and leaves the timeline entirely open.
Instead: Give a specific timeline. "I will follow up by Wednesday with a decision" or "I will send the updated file once I have heard back from legal."
Vague Corporate Speak and Corporate Jargon
13. "Circle back" and discuss next steps
The problem: What does circling back actually mean? When does it happen, who initiates it, and about what, exactly? The phrase sounds like a commitment but functions as a way to end a conversation without deciding anything.
Instead: Replace the vague loop with a real one: "I will follow up Friday afternoon" or "Can we schedule 20 minutes next week to finalize this?"
14. "Loop you in"
The problem: Not wrong, but overused. "Looping in" someone without context leaves them confused about why they are being added to a thread.
Instead: When adding someone to a thread, explain why: "Adding Maya here: she handles the vendor contracts and can answer your question directly."
15. "Take this offline"
The problem: In practice this usually means "let's not have this conversation here," which is occasionally legitimate but often just delay.
Instead: Suggest the actual alternative. "This probably needs a call: are you free Thursday afternoon?"
16. "Synergy" or "leverage synergies"
The problem: These words almost never carry concrete meaning in email. A subject line like "Exploring Synergies" tells the recipient nothing about what you want from them, only that you have recently been in a meeting where the word came up a lot.
Instead: Say what you actually mean. "If we share the distribution list, both teams save time on outreach." Swapping "leverage" for "make the most of" usually clears things up too.
17. "Move the needle"
The problem: Vague. On what metric, and in which direction?
Instead: Be specific about what outcome you are working toward. "This would increase qualified leads by roughly 15% based on the pilot data."
18. "Low-hanging fruit"
The problem: Overused to the point of parody. Also implies other priorities are the harder fruit, which introduces a frame that may not be useful.
Instead: "The quickest win here would be [specific thing]."
19. "At the end of the day..."
The problem: It usually follows a long explanation and signals that a conclusion is coming, but it adds three words to whatever that conclusion already was. No one has ever been persuaded harder by a sentence because it started with "at the end of the day."
Instead: Just make the point. Drop the phrase and start with the conclusion itself. The simplest word usually wins: "availability" instead of "bandwidth," "use" instead of "utilize."
Phrases That Are Just Awkward
20. "Please find attached..."
The problem: "Please find" is legalese from an era when people attached physical documents to letters. It is strange in email.
Instead: "I've attached the report" or "The proposal is attached." State what the file is.
21. "As per my understanding..."
The problem: It signals uncertainty in a way that undermines whatever comes next, without actually telling the reader what you are unsure about. It is hedging without the useful part of hedging.
Instead: State what you understand directly, or name the specific uncertainty: "I may be missing some context: my understanding was that the launch date was April 3."
22. "Kindly..."
"Kindly review," "kindly respond," "kindly note": the word sounds formal and, to many American and UK readers, slightly imperious, even though it is standard and perfectly warm in other regions' business English. Know your audience before you cut it.
Instead: "Please review" or "Could you take a look at this by Thursday?", direct and polite without the extra formality.
23. "I hope this email finds you well."
The problem: The most recognizable filler opener in professional email. No one reads it as genuine warmth anymore. We have written a full guide to alternatives if you want options, and a friendly tone works better when it sounds specific and genuine rather than copied from a template. Good subject lines matter more anyway because they set expectations before the message is opened.
Instead: Start with the reason for the email, or with a specific and real observation if you genuinely want to open with warmth.
24. "Let's get our ducks in a row."
The problem: Everyone understands it, but mixing a duck idiom into a professional email sounds like a phrase your grandfather used.
Instead: "Before we go further, I want to make sure we have got the key decisions locked down." Same meaning, no waterfowl.
25. "With all due respect..."
The problem: In email, this phrase functions the same way "no offense but" does in speech: it is a preamble to something that is, in fact, likely to offend. The recipient braces for impact.
Instead: If you disagree, say so directly and professionally. A professional tone also means avoiding slang and emojis when you deliver that disagreement. "I see this differently: here is my concern." Directness is less harmful than pre-announced directness, and if the topic is likely to escalate, handle it in a one-on-one instead.
Why These Phrases Persist
Corporate email phrases stick around because they reduce decisions. If you always write "hope this helps" at the end of a helpful email, you never have to think about how to close. Clearer communication matters even more in a business email tied to your company's domain, because a professional email address can build trust and reinforce brand recognition with every send, and emails from professional domains get opened three times more often. If you always write "per my last email" when referencing a previous message, you never have to think about tone.
The problem is that reducing decisions in this way does not reduce effort for the person reading the email. They still have to parse what you mean, read between the lines for subtext, and decide whether "friendly reminder" means you are annoyed. Clear writing also supports deliverability, since messages sent from a professional business email using the company's domain are less likely to be flagged as spam.
AI email tools are particularly prone to this. They learn from the average professional email, which is full of these phrases, and reproduce them at scale. The output sounds like email. It is not particularly good email. Proofreading still matters, because even strong drafts lose credibility if they read like generic output.
ForthWrite is built to draft in your actual voice, which means the phrases it reaches for are the ones you actually use, whether that is a clean close like "Best regards" or a direct status note such as "out of office" when it conveys something real. Try building your voice profile and see what your drafts look like without the corporate filler.