Hello and welcome to The English We Speak
with me, Feifei…
..and me, Roy.
In this programme, we have an
expression which
describes when someone has read the message
you’ve sent them, but hasn’t replied.
That reminds me, Roy - did you get my
message yesterday?
Oh… yes, I did. I read it and then
totally forgot to answer you. Was it
something important?
I can’t believe it! You completely ignored
my message. I got left on read!
What’s the colour ‘red’ got to do with
the fact I forgot to reply? Red is actually
my favourite colour.
Not red the colour, but ‘read’ as in the
past of ‘read’.
Ahhh, got you. Sorry, I didn’t mean to leave
you on read. It’s just I was in the middle
of something … and then I got distracted
….and then…
OK. Roy. I understand! What was so important
that you couldn’t reply?
I was eating a really nice banana, and
then I just forgot… sorry.
That’s a terrible excuse – it’s
a good thing we’re friends or I might think
you were ignoring me. Anyway, let’s listen
to these examples…
I can’t believe I was left on read. I sent
him a message and I can see he’s looked
at it, but he hasn’t replied!
My partner always leaves me on read. They get
really distracted and then don't message
me back.
You shouldn’t assume the worst if you get
left on read. If someone reads your message
and doesn’t reply, they might be really
busy and planning to respond later.
This is The English We Speak from BBC Learning
English and we’re talking about the expression
‘left on read’. We use this when someone
has read a message, but hasn’t replied.
So, were you really eating a banana and that’s
why you left me on read?
Yeah, sorry. Well, I was also playing video
games which might have been the main reason.
Haha – I knew it! Well the next time I want
to offer you free tickets to the ‘Rob’s
Rolling Biscuit’ rock concert, hopefully
you’ll reply and not just leave me on read!
What!?! Free tickets?! Let me read the message
again! Can I still have the tickets?
Sorry, it’s too late now. I gave them to
Neil. He didn’t leave me on read. Bye, Roy.
Bye.