All rules

Too many softeners

cushion-phrase-densityon by default (info)Japanese / English

So many softeners ("sorry to bother", "just wanted to") that the ask gets lost

Example

Flagged
Sorry to bother you, but I just wanted to check the quote. If you don't mind, reply when you get a chance.
What chaff prints
1:1 "sorry to bother" and other softeners: 16 per 1000 words (limit 5) 1:1 "just wanted to" and other softeners: 16 per 1000 words (limit 5) 1:60 "if you don't mind" and other softeners: 16 per 1000 words (limit 5) 1:60 "when you get a chance" and other softeners: 16 per 1000 words (limit 5)
Fixed
Could you check the quote by Friday? The total on page two changed.
What chaff prints
no finding

The rule measures the whole document, so this example was tried with an ordinary passage (about 200 words) after it that gives chaff nothing to report.

How to fix

Keep the first one. Lead with the request after that.

Why it matters

One softener is courtesy. Several push the point further away, and the reader has to hunt for it.

What it does not flag

One softener is courtesy and is not reported. A short document, such as an email, is measured as if it were as long as a short letter, so at the default level the third softener is the first reported; one alone is never reported.

Turning it off or relaxing it

Silence this one spot (in the document)
<!-- stet: cushion-phrase-density — reason -->
Relax it for the team (the reason is kept as a comment in chaff.yaml)
npx chaffjs relax cushion-phrase-density --why "reason"
Turn it off for the team (chaff.yaml)
rules: cushion-phrase-density: off
Technical details
Layer
L2
Status
stable
Severity
info
Languages
Japanese and English
Suited to
business, legal, docs, academic, literature, speech

Levels

Set a level for this rule under rules in chaff.yaml. With nothing set, it runs at the level its genre gives it (see By genre below).

strictup to 2 softeners per 1000 words
normalup to 5 softeners per 1000 words
relaxedup to 10 softeners per 1000 words

By genre

Runs by default in
business/proposal, business/report, business/email, business/press-release, business/meeting-notes, speech/address
Turned off by the genre in
legal/contract, legal/statute, legal/judgment, legal/patent, docs/manual, docs/faq, docs/glossary, academic/paper, literature/fiction, literature/essay, literature/poetry, literature/play, speech/transcript
Not suited to, and not run in
technical/spec, technical/readme, blog/tech, blog/essay, blog/owned-media

Genres

Message

"{matched}" and other softeners: {density} per 1000 words (limit {limit})

Rewrite depth (chaff fix-plan --depth): light — words and sentences; the structure and the voice stay

This page is built from the rule's definition file:packages/chaff/rules/cushion-phrase-density.yaml