What happens when romance collides with corporate formality? For one woman on X (formerly Twitter), it led to an unexpectedly hilarious case of being “colleague-zoned.” X user Julia shared screenshots of an email exchange with her boyfriend that went viral, leaving millions of users laughing at how love can sound like office correspondence.
Julia’s post, which has now crossed 6 million views, was captioned: “Sent a document to my boyfriend’s work email so he could print it for me and got colleague-zoned.”
The screenshots captured a perfectly comic contrast between Julia’s affectionate tone and her boyfriend’s overly formal, corporate-style reply. Julia’s original email read: “I love you! Please print this for me! Thanks.”
Her boyfriend, apparently in full professional mode, responded with a textbook business email, “Julia, thanks for reaching out. I have received your document and printed it on 8” x 11” paper. Will deliver to you later this evening to be signed. Thank you.”
Caught off guard, Julia replied, “Are you breaking up with me?” But instead of breaking character, her boyfriend doubled down on his office demeanor, writing back, “Keeping things professional. Just wanted to confirm that I have followed up on your request. Best regards.”
Julia later shared screenshots of a follow-up text exchange, where she confronted him over his poker-faced professionalism. “I’m crying. I just looked at my phone for the first time in like two hours lmao. Are your emails actually monitored?? Or were you just being silly?” she asked.
Her boyfriend admitted, “No they’re not monitored at all, I was just being funny.”
The post quickly spiralled into a viral moment, with social media users dubbing it “the funniest case of workplace personality takeover.” One user joked that Julia had been “colleague-zoned in 4K.”
Another user shared a similar experience: “Was using my work email during budget season to communicate with my then fiancé about wedding planning. All of a sudden, I get an email back from my boss saying that ‘he loves me too.’”
Others noted how easily people slip into work mode when replying from official email accounts. As one commenter put it, “He’s just trying to keep his professional game face on. It’s a sign of respect, really.”
