IT WILL SUFFICE

‘It will suffice.’ It’s a tidy little phrase, a formal way of saying something is enough—adequate, satisfactory, meets the brief—no need to do anything else. The job is done. The box is ticked. The universe is at peace.

It’s basically ‘That’ll do,’ but with a monocle. It reminds me of Mr Monopoly, kindly and sensible (unless he’s taking too much of your money).

I feel it’s okay to use, but it can come across as a bit smug – if you overuse it. Then what happens if my ‘it will suffice’ and your ‘it will suffice’ are two different things – chaos could reign.

Take the classic ‘A brief note will suffice.’ In my head I’m saying, a small note is all that’s needed. Please don’t write me a novel. I have a life. I don’t want a backstory and I don’t want an appendix. Then they send you a long note anyway. Do they not understand suffice? How do I tell them they didn’t suffice properly and that their long note is un-suffice?

If I tell them their note did not suffice, I don’t think that’s a thing. It’s like their note showed up to an exam and got a D-minus.

I feel there are rules around ‘it will suffice’, but I’m not really clear on what they are. How do I tell them – you didn’t do it wrong……but you did it wrong.

Did they think that me wanting brief was just the starting line? Why are they writing like a judge is going to ask follow-up questions, and my inbox is a courtroom.

People pad, they build a safety buffer the size of a dissertation, so I’m guessing it’s up to me to name the size of the boundary.

Maybe, I’ve got to go long note when I give the rules – just a few sentences will do, keep it brief, stick to the bare minimum facts, don’t need to much detail, a short version is great, just a couple of lines is enough. Phew.

What if I tell someone at a party that a small piece of cake will suffice, but then I eat the small piece and for me it’s not suffice. Do I go back and tell them, I was wrong with my sufficing and now I want a bigger piece of cake.

I’ve told them I don’t need much and I’m a disciplined adult who can conquer food desires, but really, I wanted a larger allocation, because it’s yummy and it’s sugar and I’m not so disciplined.

Technically, I wasn’t lying, I just updated my data, which revealed new facts. So, what am I going to do – I think I’m going to simply say, could I grab a bit more, preferably without making eye contact, because doesn’t everyone want their cake and eat it too.