[Ads-l] "Read the room"

[Dennis During]

Wiktionary has: "to understand the emotions and thoughts of the people
present" with 'read the table' as a synonym.

Related is 'work the room'

If either were to appear in MSDs, I'd expect them as run-ins at the entry
for 'room'.

On Wed, May 19, 2021 at 5:03 PM Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
wrote:

> To quote gloss and two sample sentences provided by The Free Dictionary::
>
> 'To use one's intuition to analyze the general mood of the people in a
> particular setting and act accordingly. Often used as an imperative.'
>
> I'll read the room and see if it's the right time to have the
> conversation. If people already seem on edge, I'll probably wait to bring
> it up.
>
> Read the room, James. No one here is interested in talking politics right
> now.
>
>
> I was wondering when this originated and when it caught on again to show
> up in commercials.  Does anyone know?  I’m assuming that since it’s not
> really a word (even by our extended WOTY-style definition), it won’t show
> up in back issues of Among the New Words, but someone here might have
> tracked it.  If I had to guess, the guess would involve usage by stand-up
> comedians.
>
> LH
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>


-- 
Dennis C. During

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org