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Which is correct?

  • REED Receipts

    Votes: 91 62.8%
  • RED Receipts

    Votes: 54 37.2%

  • Total voters
    145

CharlesShaw

macrumors 68000
May 8, 2015
1,729
2,862
"read receipt" is terribly misleading as it does NOT indicate that your message has been READ, it only indicates that the recipient has opened the app/conversation ... So however you want to pronounce it doesn't really matter
And now I'm wondering if FaceTime cameras [or other eye tracking] will someday be used to determine whether or not the message was actually read and the notification can be more specific.
 

Night Spring

macrumors G5
Jul 17, 2008
14,883
8,054
I didn't change the actual phone to Japanese, but Apple's documentation says that the option is called 開封証明を送信, and is therefore using 開封. I believe this is the same word used to indicate opening a physical letter.
Yes, in Japanese 開封 is used to mean "open the envelope." 証明 means "proof" and 送信 means "send." So the entire phrase Apple is using here means "send proof that [the message] was opened."

As other people have pointed out, this is a more accurate way to phrase this option, as we can't really know if the recipient has actually read the message, only that they have opened it.

The Chinese 已读 is a more direct translation of the English "read" (pronounced RED because 已 makes this past tense). This is not a construction used in modern Japanese. To convey the sense that something was read in modern Japanese would require a phrase like 読み終わった ("finished reading"). As you can see, the phrase takes up much more space, which is probably why Apple went with the more compact 開封 in this context.
 
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adrianlondon

macrumors 603
Nov 28, 2013
5,536
8,360
Switzerland
Also any assistant like Siri or AI should know it if you ask. I don't use things like that.
Any assistant "apart" from Siri.

I once asked Siri to read (in British English) "I am reading a book" and it pronounced it "redding" as in the English city of that name. I think one needs iOS 18.1 and an iPhone 15 Pro for Siri to understand that I might have wanted the verb there.
 

Adora

macrumors 6502a
Jun 30, 2024
639
255
Im German it's called Lesebestätigung. Past form would be Gelesenbestätigung. Bestätigung is rather confirmation than receipt. Receipt is more like a physical confirmation with a signature.

Ich lese = I am reading
Ich habe gelesen = I (have) read (red)

And it's a verb form, the noun would be "das Lesen" (the reading).
 

CharlesShaw

macrumors 68000
May 8, 2015
1,729
2,862
Im German it's called Lesebestätigung. Past form would be Gelesenbestätigung. Bestätigung is rather confirmation than receipt. Receipt is more like a physical confirmation with a signature.

Ich lese = I am reading
Ich habe gelesen = I (have) read (red)

And it's a verb form, the noun would be "das Lesen" (the reading).
If your iPhone language is set to German, what would it show for "Send Read Receipts" in Settings>Messages?
 

Adora

macrumors 6502a
Jun 30, 2024
639
255
If your iPhone language is set to German, what would it show for "Send Read Receipts" in Settings>Messages?

It's set to English because it's better to interact for places like here, but I just changed it and am looking for it now...


IMG_0021.PNG
 
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dfj74

macrumors newbie
Nov 8, 2023
10
13
It clearly should be pronounced as “red” to make any grammatical sense (even if I don’t think I’ll ever need to pronounce it).

Think about the WhatsApp grey/blue tick system. A message can be Sent (one tick), Delivered (two ticks) or Read (two blue ticks). In the past sense, therefore pronounce RED.

It should really be called “Opened”, as mentioned before.

It is nobody’s fault (not even the Romans’) that the spelling and pronunciation rules in English language are so random, but the grammar is clear in this case.
 

adrianlondon

macrumors 603
Nov 28, 2013
5,536
8,360
Switzerland
It's "reed" - as it gets triggered while someone is reading the email. Once they open the email and start reading, the receipt is sent. It has no idea whether you actually read it all or not.

That's my logic, anyway. So "read receipt" is pronounced "reed" but "read" on its own is pronounced "red". :)
 
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klasma

macrumors 604
Jun 8, 2017
7,446
20,736
It clearly should be pronounced as “red” to make any grammatical sense (even if I don’t think I’ll ever need to pronounce it).
It doesn't make grammatical sense either way because you aren't receiving the "read" (regardless of pronunciation), and "read" also doesn't refer to the receipt being read.
 

akerr

macrumors member
Aug 30, 2017
31
65
Messages says “Read <time>”.
Messages and Mail both have actions to “Mark as Unread”.
These are both pronounced as RED so that’s the receipt I’m getting - the message is (assumed to be) read. It’s a Led Zeppelin situation but the developers missed the opportunity to name them red receipts.
 
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Undo

macrumors member
Feb 22, 2010
68
23
Florida
In “Send Read Receipts”, Send is the verb and Receipts is the noun. That makes Read an adjective because it’s describing or qualifying the noun. According to Grammarly, verbs turn into adjectives by adding -ed (past tense spelling) or -ing. So I guess technically its pronounced Send Red Receipts. That’s the way I understand it anyway. But I pronounce it Reed Receipts because it falls out of my mouth easier, and that’s the way I’ve always heard it pronounced.
 
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adrianlondon

macrumors 603
Nov 28, 2013
5,536
8,360
Switzerland
I've always pronounce it "reed". Everyone I have ever met has pronounced it "reed".

I hate this thread, as grammatically "red" is correct, and it had never crossed my mind before.
 
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