To think “Gently,....” is weird stage directiony English?

[RickiTarr]

If you want to say something gently, say it gently,

You don’t have to preface a gentle comment with “Gently,...” if it’s genuinely gentle, and you don’t make a tactless comment by sticking “gently...” in front of it.

Why is this suddenly a thing?! I’m not seeing “Comedically, you should hit him in the head with a melon.” Or “Heartlessly, you should just get a grip and take in ironing.” So what’s this “Gently,.....” nonsense all about?

AIBU to think it IS nonsense?

This thread has given me the lols, you are all v funny wims, double thumbs up Fonz style.

@lemonsyellow

It’s “Do not go gentle into that bun fight…” Not gently.

I think it’s OK. People seem to not understand or write properly now - and then other people take offence. If you write in caps you are accused of shouting. If you put full stops on your texts you are being rude.

People write a lot more than they used to - on forums like this, for example - and don’t always explain themselves properly and get the tone wrong, and then other people get cross. So it helps to give a cue at the start to indicate that the writer is not being very critical. If you met them in real life and were speaking, you would have all sorts of verbal and visual and facial clues to help you.

Emojis aren’t a good substitute. There’s a lot of “semantic code” in them and they often make the writer look a bit childish or idiotic.

I… what? I know it’s “gentle” and not “gently” in the poem. It’s also “good night” and not “bun fight.”

It was a joke.

And that the problem with the written word. It gets misunderstood. I know it was a joke.

has passed me by completely.
so somewhere there must be a "Gently, LTB"