Choosing your words carefully is cheaper than choosing your apology carefully.

Words take seconds and their consequences take much longer to undo. A sentence said in temper arrives fully formed, gets remembered precisely, and then needs an apology that will never quite remove it. Thinking for a moment first is a small cost paid in advance. The repair is a large cost paid afterward, with no guarantee.

When your chest tightens mid-conversation, say you need a minute rather than saying the next thing that is ready. In writing, put it in a note and look again before sending. If something has already been said, apologise for the specific words rather than for how they were taken.