Texting Slang Query
- Slava
- Great Grand Panjandrum
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Texting Slang Query
I've been coming across the phrase 'left on read', in crossword clues and answers, and even in a CNN headline recently. I gather that it means a text message has been ignored and not opened for reading. My question is this, is it pronounce 'reed' or 'red'? I'm guessing 'red', as in 'turn right on red,' but am not sure so I'm annoyed. Can anyone clue me in?
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.
Re: Texting Slang Query
Never heard of "left on read" in the context you suggest, but "left on red" is very common in driving directions, so it seems an obvious punning extension.
Edit: Obviously Slava has caught me in a stupid. (I really don't drive that way.) But I do think the pronunciation he's looking for is "red", by analogy.
Edit: Obviously Slava has caught me in a stupid. (I really don't drive that way.) But I do think the pronunciation he's looking for is "red", by analogy.
Last edited by bbeeton on Fri Sep 15, 2023 3:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- Slava
- Great Grand Panjandrum
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- Joined: Thu Sep 28, 2006 9:31 am
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Re: Texting Slang Query
I'll take a wild guess and say you meant 'right on red' (after pretending to stop) is common here in the US. Which raises the question, do places that drive on the left have 'left on red' rules?Never heard of "left on read" in the context you suggest, but "left on red" is very common in driving directions, so it seems an obvious punning extension.
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.
- Slava
- Great Grand Panjandrum
- Posts: 8491
- Joined: Thu Sep 28, 2006 9:31 am
- Location: Finger Lakes, NY
Re: Texting Slang Query
Here's an example, from a crossword puzzle:
Clue: Wasn't replied to, say
Answer: Got left on read
Clue: Wasn't replied to, say
Answer: Got left on read
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.
Re: Texting Slang Query
According to Dictionary dot com (an apparent rival and perhaps an early associate of this page) Left on Read means
In internet slang, a person is left on read when a recipient has read, but not responded to, a sender’s message. The expression is often used to express feeling ignored.
https://www.dictionary.com/e/slang/left-on-read/
In internet slang, a person is left on read when a recipient has read, but not responded to, a sender’s message. The expression is often used to express feeling ignored.
https://www.dictionary.com/e/slang/left-on-read/
- Slava
- Great Grand Panjandrum
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- Joined: Thu Sep 28, 2006 9:31 am
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Re: Texting Slang Query
Thank you for finding this. It also tells us that it's pronounced 'red'. The explanation also tells me that I was getting it wrong, in a way. I got the ignored part, but thought it meant that the message was sitting, waiting to be read, not that it had been read but left bereft of a response.
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.
Re: Texting Slang Query
It just occurred to me that you, Slava, are engaged in a little project to ensure that no post on the Agora is "left on read"
- Slava
- Great Grand Panjandrum
- Posts: 8491
- Joined: Thu Sep 28, 2006 9:31 am
- Location: Finger Lakes, NY
Re: Texting Slang Query
Interesting observation. It never occurred to me to think of it that way, but now that you mention it, I guess it fits. 850+ to go, though.
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.
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