We Speak. I''m Feifei.

And I'm Roy! Hey, Feifei, do you

fancy doing some karaoke tonight

with me and Rob?

No, I do not. The last time we

went out with Rob, you two

managed to upset everyone.

Everyone left. He is tone deaf!

His singing is not that bad!

His mum says he's got

a lovely voice!

No, Roy. While tone deaf can

relate to someone who can't

hear notes and has difficulty

singing - like you - it can also

mean someone who is unaware

or insensitive to a situation.

Ahhh - so you mean that fact

that Rob said that he prefers

cats during the annual dog

welfare meeting.

Yes, that was a bit off.

He always says the wrong

things at the wrong time!

He really is tone deaf.

Let's listen to these examples.

People who say they've enjoyed

lockdown can sound a bit tone deaf.

So many people have lost their jobs.

We've all been working so hard - the

boss seemed tone deaf when

he rejected our pay rise.

I can't believe Sarah said she

doesn't believe in global warming

to those activists. She's tone deaf.

This is The English We Speak from

BBC Learning English, and we're

talking about the expression 'tone deaf'.

It can be used to describe someone

who can't sing, but also has

a secondary meaning that refers

to someone who can't understand

the sensitive nature of a situation.

Yes. It's an interesting development

of the meaning. So, 'deaf' refers to

someone who can't hear, while

'tone deaf' describes someone

who can't hear different

tones or sounds.

Yes, that's right. And the new

meaning is for someone who

says the wrong thing at the

wrong time - like Rob.

Yes - it sometimes gets used

to refer to authority figures who

say something that seems to be

out-of-touch with a certain situation.

That's right! And, Roy, please don't

sing tonight. You really are tone deaf

when it comes to singing.

Your singing makes dogs bark.

Yeah, maybe that's for the best.

But then I think the dogs just

want to be in the same band

as me. I could create a new

band called 'Roy and the Dogs'.

I can't believe you just said

that! I just formed a band called

'Feifei and the Cats' - your

comment was tone deaf. Bye, Roy.

Bye!