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既読スルー kidoku suruu
Read at 21:04. No reply. Ever.
What does kidoku suruu mean?
The receipt says they read it, the silence says everything else. Half the time they genuinely meant to reply and simply became a different person.
Example
既読スルーされたけど、たぶん寝落ちしてるだけ。
I got left on read, but they probably just fell asleep.
Vibe
Who you can say this to, and how it lands.
Friends only Casual. Natural with friends, out of place at work or with strangers.
The story behind kidoku suruu
This word could not exist before the technology. When LINE became the messaging app of Japan in the early 2010s, it displayed 既読, read, under any message the other person had opened. Suddenly silence had a timestamp on it, and a new anxiety needed a name. 既読スルー was in circulation almost immediately.
The honest truth is that most 既読スルー is not a message at all. The reply was composed mentally, the phone was put down, and the person became someone who had already answered. But the receipt sits there, glowing, and the reader supplies a whole story. There is even a counterpart, 未読スルー.
Video
Get kidoku suruu in your pocket
既読スルー is one of 308 words in YABAI, a Japanese culture snack for Android. Every word comes with its meaning, an example sentence, a vibe check and a story like the one above — in 13 languages, read aloud by your device. Paid app: no ads, no sign-up, no subscription.
