Until I was in grad school I’d never heard of the phrase “as per”. I’m not sure in what context I first saw it, but I know who wrote it. She was a nice 20- or 30-something woman who worked in the food industry or something like that. I believe she may have been an executive assistant, but I’m not sure. She and another 20- 30-something woman were friends and I don’t remember what each of them did for a living, but what they did was very similar and somehow business related.

To get to the point, however, I hate the phrase. It makes no sense. It is supposed to mean “in accordance with” as in “Enclosed is a check for $200 as per our discussion…” but it makes me gag. Why not say “as we discussed?” or “as we agreed”? Why use words that mean little to those outside the business field when writing to someone outside that field?

Whenever I see it I feel as if the person writing it is deliberately being cold and distant or else showing off his or her knowledge of business jargon.

It turns out I’m not the only one who thinks this way.