Per My Last Email: What It Really Means (And What to Do)

You just read an email and something in your chest tightened. The words were polite. Professional, even. But something about "per my last email" landed like a slap wrapped in silk. You read it again. Still polite. Still professional. Still making your stomach turn. You are not imagining it. That phrase is doing exactly what you think it is doing. And the fact that you cannot quite point to the aggression — that it hides behind a veneer of helpfulness — is not a bug. It is the entire design. Let's break down what is actually happening when someone types those four words, why it hits you so hard, and what you can do about it without starting a war at work. What "Per My Last Email" Actually Means On the surface, "per my last email" is a reference. A citation. The person is simply pointing you back to something they already said. That is what they would tell you if you confronted them about it. That is what makes this phrase so effective — it has total deniability. But language does not wo