Welcome to English in a Minute from home!
A tone is a sound you hear in music or in someone’s voice. And deaf means unable to hear. So, what could “tone deaf” mean as an idiom?
Speaker A: Ugh. Jonathan, Cynthia is so tone deaf. She went to Duncan’s party with peanut butter cookies and a big bag of peanuts.
Speaker B: What?! Duncan is allergic to nuts. His party invitation said, “PLEASE NO NUTS.”
Speaker A: And she missed that completely.
In everyday life, “tone deaf” describes someone who doesn’t notice how others think or feel. They may seem a bit clueless about other people’s situation and experiences.
And that’s English in a Minute!
*This article has been edited and reprinted from VOA Learning English with permission from Voice of America (VOA) for use in English language materials.