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7 Phrases that Make You Sound Passive-Aggressive
Avoid these phrases to promote clear communication and healthy relationships.
Hopefully, you work in a healthy workplace culture and live in a strong, positive family where people are free to state their needs, opinions, and feelings directly and no one, including you, would ever dream of being passive-aggressive.
But over email and instant messaging communication can get a little muddy. Without the benefit of body language and facial expressions, words can easily be misinterpreted. And let’s face it-whether over email or in person, even the most direct and straightforward person you know (it could be you?) will occasionally avoid directly expressing thorny emotions and slip into passive-aggressive behavior or communication.
Difficult conversations can be, well, difficult, but addressing conflict in a straightforward manner leads to clarity and more secure relationships. When you are unwilling to acknowledge your true feelings, it causes a disconnect between words and behavior, which can be disorienting at best and toxic at worst.
Here are seven phrases that smack of passive-aggressiveness, and what to say or do instead:
