Most people have slipped into a little passive aggression in workplace emails at some point. But experts say there’s one common expression you may want to drop if you’re hoping to keep things smooth with colleagues.
As remote and hybrid work have become a lasting part of professional life since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, digital communication now carries even more weight in day-to-day work. Research cited by video collaboration company Neat says more than 32.6 million Americans were working remotely in 2025, or about 22 percent of the workforce.
That shift has brought some clear advantages, but it has also made tone harder to judge. Without facial expressions, body language or the quick back-and-forth of an in-person conversation, even short email phrases can come across more sharply than the sender intended.
Gallup has also found that hybrid workers often report better work-life balance, with 76 percent naming it as a major benefit, even as employers continue to wrestle with how remote communication affects trust, collaboration and wellbeing.
One phrase that appears again and again is “friendly reminder”. It is often intended to soften a follow-up or make a request seem less blunt, but communication specialists say it can easily have the opposite effect.
After reviewing 1.6 million emails, software company ZeroBounce found that ‘friendly reminder’ appeared more than any other phrase used by coworkers to apologize and ‘soften communication,’ Metro UK reports.
However, specialists say the wording may not land the way senders expect.
Strategic communications and transformation advisor Natalie Sutton told the publication: “Professionals use it because they’re trying to be polite while also being direct, but it achieves neither. It signals urgency while pretending not to, which is confusing and faintly irritating to the reader.”
Sutton also said that, while it may feel less natural to some people, clearer and more precise wording works better, such as ‘Could you confirm by Friday?’
That kind of wording tends to work better because it removes the guesswork. Instead of dressing up a chase email as something cheerful, it gives the recipient a clear action and a deadline.
Liz Sebag-Montefiore, a CEO and HR expert, agreed, telling Metro that the phrase ‘wasn’t friendly at all’.
“In many cases, the recipient hears, “I’m chasing you again” or “you’ve failed to do something”, which can trigger defensiveness rather than cooperation,'” she said.
That helps explain why phrases meant to sound polite can still irritate people. In workplace settings, many readers interpret them less as warmth and more as coded frustration.
The expression has also become a talking point on social media, particularly on TikTok, where younger workers have poked fun at it in skits and reaction videos. One popular caption reads: “When the office wide ‘friendly reminder’ email is definitely about you.”
This isn’t the first time office email wording has come under fire either. Research tied to Perkbox Insights and reported in 2020 found that common stock phrases such as ‘As per my last email’ and ‘just looping in…’ ranked among the most annoying email clichés for workers.
That broader backlash fits with more recent findings too. ZeroBounce said in a 2026 study of more than one million work emails that overused corporate phrases still dominate inboxes, with expressions like “reaching out”, “please advise” and “hope my email finds you well” continuing to show up regularly despite being widely mocked.
There was some good news from the earlier research too. It found that the most appreciated email format was also the simplest: opening with a straightforward ‘hi,’ and signing off with a polite ‘Kind regards’.
Experts generally say the same principle applies across most work communication: be direct, be specific and avoid phrases that sound polite on the surface but carry an undertone of blame.
So if your drafts are full of “friendly reminders,” it may be time for a rethink.