just following up
/dʒʌst ˈfɒloʊɪŋ ʌp/
Very CommonThe corporate phrase for 'you never responded to me and I need an answer'.
The word 'just' softens the ask on the surface while the follow-up itself signals you did not respond in time. Multiple follow-ups in a thread escalate the implied pressure.
Real-world examples4 examples
| # | Example | What it means | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | just following up on my email from last week :) | You have been waiting a week with no response and are now requesting action. | x, 2023 |
| 02 | when you send the same email three times and the third one starts with 'just following up on my follow-up'. | Escalating desperation disguised as continued politeness. | tiktok, 2024 |
| 03 | got a 'just following up' from someone I met at a conference six months ago. buddy. | An unexpectedly late follow-up that is jarring in its timing. | x, 2022 |
| 04 | my whole job is just following up on things people said they would do and then did not. | Following up is a full-time professional responsibility in some roles. | reddit, 2023 |
Use it when
- You sent an email and got no response.
- You are waiting on a decision or approval and need to nudge.
- Joking about being stuck waiting on someone who is not responding.
Do not use it when
- You are following up the same day you sent the original email.
- You actually want to sound urgent or direct.Use “I need an update on this” instead.
Just following up vs gentle reminder
just following up
Just following up waits for a response or decision.
VS
gentle-reminder
Gentle reminder nudges someone to complete an action.
Origin and context
The phrase became recognizable corporate shorthand for impatience-behind-politeness in the 2010s, spreading as workplace Twitter cataloged the hidden language of email culture.
- First seen
- 2010s
- Confidence
- medium
Cite this page
Use this stable URL to reference the entry.
https://slang.fyi/just-following-upUpdated: 2026-08-29License: CC BY 4.0