At least control was giving him a polite reminder.
It sent the Shah a "polite reminder" of the importance of political rights and freedom.
Judging from Khegh's ever-so-slightly chastened emotional reaction," Deanna said, "it served as a polite reminder that we need him to restrain himself.
And a polite reminder that what's done is done.
That year, the Shah responded to Carter's "polite reminder" by granting amnesty to some prisoners and allowing the Red Cross to visit prisons.
To provide a polite reminder that the country was started by Englishmen they took the Queen to a hostel called Raffles Hall and Westin Stamfords, another hotel.
Cigarette ads are allowed on late-night television and the warning on packs is a relatively polite reminder not to smoke too much and to mind one's manners.
After a few meaningless pleasantries, there would be a discreet clearing of the throat, a polite reminder that time was being wasted, and on the Bahnhofstrasse time was certainly money.
She insisted on tipping, ignoring the polite reminders that such a gesture was unnecessary in this country.
We have pleasant names for them, of course, but you might think of them, respectively, as: one, a polite reminder; two, well in excess of your pain threshold; three, spectacularly fatal.