Would you do us a favor? Say these two words aloud, and then make a mental note of how they sound:
Read receipts
You know read receipts, right? It’s the email tracking software feature in Boomerang that lets you know if someone read your email.
As we prepared to release our latest update to Boomerang’s read receipts, our team was going back and forth in a debate that remains unresolved among us. We realized that some of us were pronouncing the first word “read” as in the color red, rhymes with bread, while others say “read” like the part of some musical instruments that vibrates, rhyming with knead.
The case for pronouncing it like red
| ɹɛd |
Proponents of read receipts — pronounced with a short E, rĕd, like bread — stake their case on the tense of the verb.
The software feature functions as a notification of something that already happened, in the past: did they read my email? It is implied that the recipient’s reading of the email would have happened before the present moment in time. Therefore, the first word in the phrase “read receipts” must be the past tense of the verb read. And the past tense of the verb read is pronounced with a short E.
The case for pronouncing it like reed
| riːd |
To explain why it should be read receipts instead — pronounced with a long E, rēd, as in need — we consulted teammates whom we noticed saying it that way. Here’s what Jeff, the manager of our support team, had to say:
“Why do I pronounce read receipt correctly instead of “red” receipt? An interesting question, to be sure (need I also clarify I pronounce ‘sure’ with a silent e – not as surrey?). When you go to the store and get a receipt – what kind of receipt is it? A purchased receipt? No, it is a purchase receipt. A read receipt tracks reads in the same way a purchase receipt tracks purchases. If you design a receipt to track shades of crimson, by all means, call it a red receipt. But that is not what a read receipt tracks, nor how it is pronounced.”
So how do YOU say read receipts?
So, reader, what say you? Which is correct?
Our informal poll of the Boomerang team revealed an approximate 60-40 preference for saying “red” instead of “reed”. Far be it from us to say that one or the other is right or wrong! If you found this page because you were trying to settle a debate, please go ahead and send the link to your opponent to prove you are not wrong.
If you have any particular expertise on this topic and you’d like to weigh in or there’s another perspective on this debate that we have neglected to consider or if you just have a strong opinion, please do not hesitate to let us know by emailing boomerang at baydin dot com.
To track emails you send with read receipts, install Boomerang for Gmail. We also make read receipts for Outlook, which you can use by installing Boomerang for Outlook!
