A gentle reminder what does it even mean?

[EachandEveryone]

I’m off long term sick but check my work emails. I’ve lost count of how many “gentle reminders” we get😀 whether it’s washing your cups or filling in admission sheets properly. Is it a NHS thing? It seems such a wet expression and it’s the same (management) people using it.

Yeh we get them too, also NHS. It's basically 'I'm not bollocking you but .....'

I'm pretty sure it means they are very pissed off about it.

I would always read it as something like this: 'You've been told this a hundred times, wash your fucking mugs, you selfish wankers'.

“I’m pissed off that people are STiLL doing this but I can’t sound too angry about it so I’m labelling it a gentle reminder instead of a fuming repetition.”

It always sounds threatening to me. The implication seems to be 'it's gentle this time but it could get very nasty next time'.

Nhs worker here. Gentle reminder or friendly reminder are used all the time, when really what we want to say is 'for fucks sake sort yourselves out and stop doing the same shit we've asked you not to do a hundred times' we also send it out to everybody when actually it's the same one or two idiots that keep doing the thing. I've sent these emails and received them 😁

Its very passive agressive and definitely not gentle

I can't speak for NHS internal messages, but in the wider world it means 'can you just fucking do it'

In much the same way, I gave my son a gentle reminder last night that the hand towel in the bathroom is for drying clean hands, not for wiping tomato sauce directly onto. I started with 'can we all just remember...'. He knew what I meant!

Ha, also NHS and receive 'gentle reminders ' regularly. Except for stat and mand training. They are horrible 'you are NON COMPLIANT' shouty emails!

Yes!!!

I've also been sent a standardised work email a few times that says along the lines of "this is a gentle reminder, but if you don't comply we might take your device and report you to your line manager". I have given feedback that the email is the opposite of a "gentle reminder", but to no avail...

I'm in the private sector and often send "gentle reminders" aka you've missed the deadline and I'm 3 hours away from losing my shit. It's passive aggressive corporate speak for "you're on thin ice".

They need to bin the word gentle or friendly and just go with reminder, because it's fairly certain that the sentiment is neither friendly nor gentle.

In my work it now seems to have become impossible to just say 'reminder'. E.g. there'll be a 'gentle reminder that Steve is having his leaving drinks in the Red Lion tonight'. I really don't know what 'gentle' is doing in that kind of email. What other kind of reminder could there be? Always sounds as if there is a lurking threat!

"I'm not your mum but this needs doing and you're starting to piss me off, don't make me CC in your manager"

I see them as the email equivalent of those signs in shop windows or on railings that are headed "POLITE NOTICE" (before telling you not to put up posters/chain your bike up here or whatever).