已读乱回

What does 已读乱回 mean?

You ask whether he's eaten; he tells you it's going to rain tomorrow. 已读乱回 plays on 已读不回, the Chinese version of 'left on read', except that here the person does reply, just with something from a different conversation entirely. Sometimes it's an honest misunderstanding, sometimes a deliberate dodge: a relative asks about your salary and you offer a weather forecast instead. Applied to yourself it becomes a playful confession that you are deflecting on purpose.

Where does 已读乱回 come from?

The account 渣渣辉和他爷爷 got it moving in January 2024, with Douyin videos in which the creator's grandfather mishears nearly every question and answers wildly off target, hearing 阳了 ('I tested positive') as 养了个羊 ('I raised a sheep'). Clips of mismatched questions and answers kept going viral after that, and Douyin listed the phrase among its memes of 2024.

How to use 已读乱回

• 我问他吃了没，他说明天下雨，真是已读乱回。
  Wǒ wèn tā chī le méi, tā shuō míngtiān xià yǔ, zhēn shì yǐ dú luàn huí.
  I asked if he'd eaten and he said it's going to rain tomorrow — a totally random reply.
• 亲戚问工资，我直接已读乱回。
  Qīnqi wèn gōngzī, wǒ zhíjiē yǐ dú luàn huí.
  When my relatives asked about my salary, I just replied with something random.