Academia gets quite a few questions from people in academia who want to communicate something to someone, but are just not sure how to say it. Often this is a student trying to tell something to a professor.
How do I politely ask a professor to contact another professor he knows to accept me as PhD student?
What advice can we offer for asking, answering, or moderating such questions?
A few potential issues:
In many cases the asker is simply nervous - perhaps they are intimidated by the idea of talking to a professor, or have bad news or a sensitive request and are worried about the reaction, or are anxious about their language skills, etc. They may be looking for reassurance rather than help with wording.
Sometimes newcomers to academia seem to think there are magic protocols to follow, and seem to be unaware that academics generally communicate just the same as everyone else. (To which we have JeffE's classic response: "Pretend as though he were human".)
Cultural factors may come into play. Etiquette, polite wording, etc, vary much more between cultures than inside/outside academia. An answer that's applicable in the US may not work at all in Japan, for instance; but maybe that distinction doesn't really have anything to do with academia.
Language issues may come into play. Perhaps the asker is not writing in their native language and is unsure whether they are clearly expressing themselves, or whether the tone of their wording is appropriate. Again, this might not really have anything to do with academia.
