Email & Comms Jargon · Intern level

"When you get a sec"

"When you get a sec" is a phrase used to request someone's attention or time while framing the request as low-urgency, though the matter often turns out to be neither small nor quick.

Say this instead: when you have a moment

How "When you get a sec" shows up at work

The opener that sounds casual and becomes a thirty-minute conversation. Recipients have learned to brace themselves. The more times "just" is added to the same message, the larger the ask tends to be.

Buzzword

When you get a sec, can we talk about the Q3 forecast?

Plain English

When you have a moment, can we talk about the Q3 forecast?

Corporate Rank: Intern · Category: Email & Comms Jargon

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More Email & Comms Jargon: Adding for visibility · Adding to the thread · Any update on this · Apologies for the delay · As discussed · As per our conversation

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