Earliest Convenience: Is It Awkward to Use This Phrase?

Your out-of-office email message says, “I’m away from my desk right now, but I’ll get back to you at my earliest convenience.” Have you created a grievous business faux pas? Surely, you meant well. How could it possibly be impolite to say that you’ll do something just as soon as it’s convenient for you?

Language has power. Words and phrases are open to interpretation. They can convey a certain tone, depending on the context in which they’re used.

Mark Twain said, “The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter—’tis the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” The trick to clear communication lies in choosing words and phrases that are less likely to be misinterpreted—the lightning bugs rather than the lightning.

Is there a problem with “earliest convenience”?

As impolite phrases go, there are certainly worse offenses. Whether this one rubs us the wrong way depends on the context in which it’s used.

At my earliest convenience

Let’s look at our out-of-office message example from above.

I’m away from my desk right now, but I’ll get back to you at my earliest convenience.

Our Verdict: Don’t use

Saying you’ll return someone’s email or call at your earliest convenience sounds impolite. Yes, you mean that you’ll get back to the person who’s contacted you as soon as you can, but what the recipient hears is something more like, “I’ll get back to you when (and maybe if) it’s convenient for me.” The implication is that you’ll do it when you feel like it, or when you’re good and ready, or maybe never. Snooty!

At your earliest convenience

But what if you’re using “at your earliest convenience” to tell someone that you’re okay with them getting around to your request when it’s convenient for them? Let’s look at an email between colleagues, John and Mary.

Hi Mary,

I’m going to need our profit and loss statement from Q1 in order to prepare a report. Would you send it to me at your earliest convenience?

Thanks, John

Our Verdict Okay to use, but . . .

. . . there are better ways to express that a request isn’t urgent. Although it isn’t rude to tell Mary that it’s okay for her to tend to your request when it’s convenient, “at your earliest convenience” still falls short on a few counts.

• It’s not specific enough. You’ve told Mary you need something, but you didn’t tell her when you absolutely need it by. She could assume you don’t really need it at all. A better option would be “. . . at your earliest convenience, or no later than [date].”
• It sounds jargony. One of the reasons many people dislike “at your earliest convenience” is that it sounds like business jargon—something we all love to hate. Use plain language instead.
• It’s easily misinterpreted. What if Mary sees your request as urgent when you meant to say that you were in no hurry? She may take time out of her day to rush through your task, which could turn out to be anything but convenient for her.

Alternatives to “Earliest Convenience”

As phrases go, dropping “earliest convenience” from your repertoire is the safest bet. But what should you use instead?

At my earliest convenience

We’ve already stated that you should drop “at my earliest convenience” from workplace and personal communication tout de suite. It comes across as inconsiderate, if not outright rude.

If you do have time to honor a request, instead of saying you’ll get around to it when it’s convenient, tell the person when they can expect your response. (“I’ll reply when I return to the office on [date].”)

At your earliest convenience

Although there’s nothing wrong with this phrase, it might actually be too polite, or at least too open-ended. Although you could use softer, less jaron-laden language like “whenever you have time” or “as soon as you’re able”, once again, we prefer specificity.

Let’s revisit the John and Mary email example and make it more specific.

Hi Mary,

I’m going to need our profit and loss statement from Q1 to prepare a report I’ll be presenting next Monday. Would you be able to send me the P&L no later than Wednesday of this week?

Thanks, John

Here, instead of telling Mary to get around to sending the P&L statement whenever it’s convenient for her, and leaving her to wonder how soon he needs them, John has used a call-to-action to ask whether she would be able to send them over by Wednesday.

Now, Mary knows what John needs and when he needs it. Plus, having the CTA in the form of a question could prompt her to reply, letting him know whether she’ll be able to accommodate the request.

Bonus: Mary’s reply will document the exchange. If she says that yes, she can have the P&L statement ready by Wednesday and doesn’t deliver, John can follow up. If she still doesn’t respond, he can point to this email trail when he has to explain why the P&L didn’t make it into his report. Way to cover your backside, John!

Capitalization: Periods and Events

Specific periods, eras, historical events, etc.: these should all be capitalized as proper nouns. Why? Since there are many periods, eras, wars, etc., the capital will differentiate the specific from the common. Consider the examples below:

Most of the World War I veterans are now deceased.

In the Middle Ages, poor hygiene was partly responsible for the spreading of bubonic plague.

The McCarthy Era inspired Arthur Miller to write The Crucible.

Roman Britain is the setting for the Minimus comic books.

Middle school students often enjoy studying the social changes that took place in the Roaring Twenties.

However, centuries—and the numbers before them—are not capitalized. See the examples below for an illustration of this rule:

In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, England blossomed into an empire.

In the eighteen hundreds, the world saw great technological advancement.

Grammar Basics: What Are Nondefining Clauses?

There are two types of relative clauses—defining and nondefining. To review, relative clauses can contain a subject, verb, and a relative pronoun, though not all are needed. The relative pronouns are who, whose, when, where, which, and that. Relative clauses are sometimes called adjective or adjectival clauses because they describe nouns like adjectives do. Defining clauses give essential information about the main noun. Often, they answer the question: “Which one?” If you haven’t already guessed, nondefining clauses do not define nouns. But what do they do?

Nondefining relative clauses provide supplementary information. However, the information is not key to the meaning of the sentence. In fact, the sentence would still make sense if you removed the nondefining clause. Look at these example sentences with and without nondefining clauses.

The country of Costa Rica has extensive measures in place to protect endangered rainforest animals. (This sentence does not have a relative clause.)

The country of Costa Rica, where extinct species such as the golden toad once thrived, has extensive measures in place to protect endangered rainforest animals. (The nondefining clause “where extinct species such as the golden toad once thrived” tells us more about Costa Rica, but nothing that is essential to understanding of the sentence.)

Besides the type of information added (essential vs. nonessential), the use of commas is different between the two types of clauses. Commas set off nondefining clauses from the rest of the sentence. Defining clauses do not need commas.

Was your guess correct? Celebrate by adding some nondefining clauses to your writing. They add supplementary information. They are not essential, but they can be quite interesting.

Improving Your Writing Will Improve Your Life

Everyone wants a little taste of the good life, but it’s often difficult to figure out just how to cook it up and savor it. After all, the recipe for success can be more complex than the method behind a Yotam Ottolenghi vegetable dish.

The first challenge, naturally, is identifying the right ingredients. And unless you think the key to a better existence merely opens the door to a Ferrari, you’re most likely part of the crowd that agrees that health, peace of mind, and happiness are critical components.

This trinity has long been at the heart of society’s idea of true richness, and while we can’t guarantee that improving your writing will put each element within easy reach, getting a better grip on grammar, expanding your vocabulary, and showing greater mastery of written communication will put you on the right track.

More specifically:

You’ll be more successful.

At everything, especially when it comes to your career.

According to a 2010 MetLife Survey, 97 percent of executives rate writing skills as absolutely essential or very important. Not to mention, a recent Forbes study found that one of the skills employers most want to see in 2015 graduates is the ability to create and edit written reports.

In a nutshell, writing is a critical part of business communication today, and those who do it well will, at the very least, be viewed as more capable, more valuable employees.

On a similar note, writing has been linked to strong critical thinking and analytical skills, two abilities that form the foundation of powerful decision-making, a trait that goes hand in hand with leadership. Read between the lines here, and you’ll see what we’re getting at: promotion, promotion, promotion!

Finally, even if you’re not part of a traditional business environment, writing well can help you deliver your message clearly and concisely, which will be essential to advancing your ideas, agendas, and proposals.

You’ll be more attractive.

Sure, you could adopt a Jack Kerouac or Donna Tartt look, but that’s not what we’re alluding to. Improving your writing will make you sexier regardless of your style or your practiced ennui.

That’s because it makes you happier and more confident, two qualities that bring in the dates like a dinner bell brings in the laborers at the end of a hard day of farm work.

Our reasoning?

Improving your ability to write expressively, which means jotting down traumatic, emotional, or stressful events, will help uplift your mind and body. At least that’s what social psychologist James Pennebaker found when he asked people to write in this way for three to five sessions of fifteen to twenty minutes over the course of several days.

Taking it one step further, the sense of ease you get from offloading complicated negative thoughts and feelings is an indicator of confidence, which even science has endorsed as one of the most attractive qualities in a person.

Just don’t get so good at expressive writing that your ego overinflates; there’s a fine line between confidence and arrogance.

You’ll have stronger relationships with your family and friends.

Language scientists believe that writing transforms our complex cognitive processing abilities. Putting pen to paper allows us to more clearly think through ideas that were previously difficult or impossible to wrap our heads around.  By extension, it means we can better articulate our notions and feelings even when we’re communicating verbally.

When is this especially useful? When forming and maintaining important relationships, of course.

Interpersonal connections depend heavily on self-expression and our knack for understanding how our own opinions align with those of others. Once you can make sense of the mad jumble inside your own mind, you can engage in a meaningful way with friends and family.

Not to give you any ideas, but it also means your powers of persuasion will likely increase dramatically. What was it that you needed your loved ones to say yes to again?

You’ll have more time to do the things you love.

Improving your writing means you’ll spend less time editing, which means you’ll have more time to look at bugs, go base jumping, or read that classic that’s been gathering dust on your bookshelf for a small eternity.

If the kind of writing you’re doing doesn’t demand editing, that’s even better (then you’ll have loads of time). Jokes aside, writing can make you more productive and more focused. 

As mentioned, your thoughts will have a new clarity, and you won’t need to wade through a tangle of ideas stuffing up your brain.

If you happen to be writing about goals you want to achieve, improving your ability to pinpoint your objectives and your path to reaching them will make you more likely to get results. Clinical psychologist Gail Matthews effectively proved this by conducting a study at the Dominican University of California.

Then you can use your increased attractiveness and your newfound knack for making strong connections to become even more successful! Voilà!

Can you think of an example of when writing helped improve your life? We want to hear it. Tell us about it in the comment section below or via our Facebook or Twitter feeds.

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Stephanie Katz is a San Francisco–based writer who, contrary to the way it may seem, won’t correct your grammar over beers, coffees, or any other normal life interaction. She tells stories about health, history, travel, and more and can be contacted via email at stekatz@gmail.com.

All romance, no grammar: lessons we can learn from great works of literature

Some of the greatest works of literature contain beautifully written declarations of love. But if you want to learn the rules of grammar, don’t look to these novels for help. Here are some of the most romantic quotes from literature and explanations of the grammar rules they bend and break.

Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald ‘To-night’ is possibly confused with the correctly spelled word, ‘tonight.’ In the past, this hyphenated spelling of ‘tonight’ was common, but it’s best to use the modern spelling in your writing to keep the meaning clear.

Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak When ‘earth’ is used as a proper noun (as it is in this quote) it should be capitalized. If you’re using earth as a common noun (for example: Dinosaurs used to roam the earth.), it needs to be preceded by the article ‘the.’

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen The issue here is the overuse of commas and the conjunction, ‘or.’ There is a beautiful poetry to this style of writing, but if you’re writing for work or school, we suggest keeping things a little simpler.

A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway This is another example of a poetically worded sentence that could be restructured for practicality and clarity. While the combination of compound phrases is compelling in a novel, if you’re writing in a professional setting, it’s best to separate this many clauses with commas or periods. Adding a comma after ‘books’ would help differentiate these related thoughts.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë The colon in the middle of this sentence emphasizes the lover’s declaration. However, because this sentence contains two separate but related clauses, it would be more grammatically correct to use a semicolon instead of a colon.

The language of love can be beautifully poetic, but it isn’t always the most grammatically correct. When you’re writing professional or formal documents, stick to the rules and save the poetry for your valentines.