Kindly, Gently...

[MasterBeth]

Am I Being Unreasonable to think that writing Kindly or Gently at the beginning of a post is a pointless, performative piece of nonsense.

We'll decide if what you say is kind or gentle, thank-you very much.

Hm, I see what you mean.

Sometimes I feel that what I want to say is rather direct though, especially if someone is clearly upset and vulnerable - specially in relationships. I hoped that 'I don't mean this unkindly' would make it a bit more palatable. I remember Anyfucker's extremely forthright advice years ago and while she was generally quite right, it did come over sometimes as brutal as ice water.

I suppose context makes the difference. 'shut up' and 'kindly shut up' isn't much different.

I like kindly...

Kindly remove that "gently" shit from your sentence please.

'Please kindly shut up' is tautological!

Please shut up, or kindly shut up is the correct form, I believe.

A former colleague, in another Anglophone country, would always sign business letters 'Yours cordially'. She explained her preference by saying that she wasn't always faithful and rarely sincere, but that she would always be cordial. It's stayed with me.

Both oxymoronic and tautological I feel.

I prefer the Italian, ma stai un po zitto.

Which, translated, equates roughly to “Shaddappa your face!” 🤣

@CoffeeCantata love the username!