I get where you’re coming from with the assumptions you made. It’s obvious to you, but it might not be to everyone. As they say in programming, “explicit is always better than implicit”. Relying on the reader to infer what you mean instead of just telling them explicitly will always risk misinterpretation.

And laughing at people because they don’t understand things is the fastest way for this to become like Reddit, which I really hope doesn’t happen.

In your defense, the commenter should have specified that it was Celsius.

My go to is usually like “I just wanted to touch base on [topic]” if I want an update on something without seeming like I’m pressuring them.