People Are Always Misinterpreting My Emails. What Am I Doing Wrong?The Esquire guy suggests we all could benefit from a Robert De Niro approach to e-mailing.

Let's assume you're not stupid or a jerk or weird--that you're not misspelling every other word or ending every thought with "OK???!!!!" or citing Hopi Indian blessings in their original tongue. Let's assume instead that you are either brusque or long-winded.

If you're long-winded, then maybe you shouldn't type so much. If you're brusque, then God bless you. Don't change anything. Despite any evidence to the contrary in these columns, we're fervently pro-brusque. As far as we're concerned, brusqueness is a key part of the engine of commerce.