It's unread not "on read"

[GiveMyHeadPeaceffs]

I'm seeing this more and more on here and it really irritates me more than it should but here we are. "On read" doesn't even make sense! It's "unread"...this post will probably be unread but at least I've had my tiny rant

Haha. I think the OP has realised how crazy they sound and are not come back

I guess OP has realised they're a bit out of touch

Sorry, I was busy! Reading the answers now and yes, fair enough. However I think it sounds better that someone left a message "as read" rather than "on read" but hey ho, you live and you learn!

They don't sound crazy. They just didn't know! We all make mistakes. OP you should just laugh it off - it's no big deal. Come back and have a joke with us. People making mean comments also make mistakes.

I've never heard of 'on read' before now. so that's good to know!
Good old MN 😁

If you kept seeing a phrase that you weren't familiar with and didn't seem to make sense in context - would you not google it rather than just assuming you were right and posting to criticise others?

Maybe. But who knows? We all make mistakes and it is pedants' corner, after all.

I'm sure you've said silly things before now. No need to lay into someone for a mistake. It's not like OP was nasty about it.

Nah, if you're going to be a pedant you should at least be right.

You said unread though. Which has a different meaning.

It's definitely on read. Meaning read but no reply. As read wouldn't compute properly.

Tbf unread is right sometimes as you've already read it on the screen and decide not to open it until later. Useful little feature that

But that’s why this corner exists- so pedants (good and bad) can come here to talk about this stuff instead of saying it on threads where people do not invite such criticism. Inevitably there will be threads where the would-be pedant discovers that one particular bugbear is not as clear-cut as they thought. But feedback delivered by empathetic fellow pedants.

Not the point I was making. I agree OP was wrong. I disagree that there's any reason to lay into her.

Why be mean? She's had her mistake pointed out numerous times and come back to admit she was wrong. What do you want to do? Make her feel like a shitty person for making a mistake? Shame her? Humiliate her? That's disproportionate. OP made a mistake. You have made mistakes, too. No one was harmed, so we just laugh about it and let it go.

Leaving something ‘as read’ suggests something slightly different to me. I think ‘on read’ is a bit more precise in this context.

The alignment with being ‘on hold’ (as a pp mentioned) helps to suggest that similar feeling of being in limbo, being made to wait and unable to do anything about it.

I think there's a huge difference between:

"I keep seeing this usage - it reads all wrong to me, but am I missing something?"

And

"X is so irritating, it should be Y, X is wrong."

With increasing regularity, when people post with the second attitude they're criticising something that is actually correct or is regional. The ones posting with the first are up for an interesting discussion about language.

(Name changed yesterday, been a regular on this board under numerous names for donkeys although I don't for a second claim to be an expert.)

Again, this is the standard tone in this corner between pedants. It’s not meant for consumption by people who make the “error”. Not the our fault you stumble in from Active and get all upset. .

I didn't stumble in from Active. This is one of my most frequented Boards.

If you're going to criticise, you'd best be right if you're going to post on a board for people with an interest in the topic.

ETA and the only one making an error here is OP.

I have no idea what ETA means in this context but I still think you are doing PC wrong.

This is just silly. OP made a mistake and instead of laughing along with everyone else, you've chosen to take offence. Obviously OP thought she was right when she posted - that's how we know she made a mistake. If she was unsure, I expect she would have asked the question rather than making a statement. She wasn't unsure; she was mistaken.

You and I and everyone else also makes mistakes from time to time. There's absolutely no reason to do anything other than have a good natured laugh about it and let it go. Are you really so defensive and uptight that you can't just enjoy a laugh without trying to make someone feel bad?

ETA = edited to add.

If you're a regular on this Board, you'll know there's two schools of thought about it.

One is that it is to discuss language and embrace its richness.

The other is that it's to criticise posters on other parts of the site for their errors.

I think the first interpretation has led to some really interesting discussions and taught me a lot, I'm a big fan. The second tends to be mean, and posters are wrong as often as they are right.

"I keep seeing this usage - it reads all wrong to me, but am I missing something?"

I've posted this kind of thing before. Possibly in chat though because the phrase sounded wrong to me but I didn't want to comment on it in the book review and find out I was wrong. Which it turns out I was. So I still commented on the phrase but in a "I learnt something new" rather than "author is wrong" way.

You are the one taking the opportunity to be personally mean to the OP. That is much more unpleasant than OP making a generalised statement about a particular “error” that she has observed.

I can also tell that you are one of those people who come on here with your predictably tedious “language evolves” response to players’ lighthearted laments about new expressions, then proceed to declare that we are all just here “to discuss the richness of the English language”.

And have some reading comprehension skills!

I do think language evolves, yes! And I enjoy discussing it.

"On read" is a brilliant example of that - a phrase we had no need of only a few years ago, and now says so much. Brilliant. Love it.

Thank you to those that have been gracious. I made a mistake, held my hands up and continued with my morning.

I do wonder if this might be regional to some degree. I'm just back from a walk with several friends and none of them would use the phrase "on read". They suggested several other ways they'd explain it to someone. We're all from NI.

In future I shall obviously double check Google/ask a wide range of acquaintances/ask Alexa etc before I dip my toe into PC!

I think it's more likely to be age-related than regional - or more known to those who are online more, perhaps. I'm in NI and would use it, as would my friends.