thats a fair thought, not dumb.

i'm still confused by Rest In Peace. Do you mean I hope this skeleton/soul doesn't have anxiety? or that i hope the place the skeleton lays isn't at war?

To be fair, I'm certain that someone has written it with that as the intended meaning. It seems like the kind of passive aggressive thing some mannered British aristocrat would do.

Neither. The recipient needs more water, and the letter may or may not find them a well to get water from.

Imagine a time before instant communications, where you have no idea how life has treated the recipient since you last saw them and it might take months for your letter to arrive. It is a sincere hope that they are well and that tradgedy has not befallen them.

It would be neurotic and unreasonable if your last update on their life was only days or even hours before, but in the days of letters hope is really all you had. It's just honest.

It just means you hope the recipient is well.

If this is all it takes to be annoying you either have the easiest time, or you're perpetually angry due to the most inconsequential shit.

At least it doesn't ask for a response, like "how are you" or "how's things?"

It's just an attempt to briefly acknowledge you're asking a human your questions, rather than an algorithm.

You're presumably capable of seeing and skipping the sentence without reading it, so go ahead. Nobody expects an answer, nor continued "courtesies" during back-and-forth replies.

Having thought about this, I think I will start using Ave like a Roman.

Ave Oxjox!

I think you're answering your own question here.

Your blunt coworker has to explain himself or risks being taken as rude by people who don't know him. You yourself couldn't determine if he was being rude to you without some additional context.

Without further context, you don't know how to interpret an email that says where is my spreadsheet motherfucker.

In both cases, you're saying further social cues are needed to determine if someone you don't know very well is being rude or not. Hence, why people emailing people they don't know very well in a professional capacity include niceties to convey context and tone.

🙂 Thank you for softening the pain.

I'm 1(one) decade beyond, and I'm super short and direct with a hint of familiarity. It also works, because it feels humble. It is humble, because you can't hide any second meaning behind "I do this, you do that, okay?"

There is a difference between nice and overly nice.

And I'm not talking about the time it takes you to be nice, but the time it takes others to process your niceness.

For instance, burying the lede on what the email is for in order to say "I hope this email finds you well". Use that space to get to the point so that the person on your receiving end can process the email quickly. If it is a request, say please but nothing beyond that.