Question

Updated on 1 Feb 2023

12ebc200

26 January

Japanese

English (US)

Question about English (US)

How do you say this in English (US)? How do you describe the situation like this with one word?
You turned on TV but you're not watching and listening. You are doing something else with TV on.

Answers

Ryan3642

26 January

English (US)

Multitasking

gerivega

27 January

English (US)
Filipino Near fluent

wasting

Marcus_Bolanus

28 January

English (US)

I don't know if there is one word for this. If you are playing music but not paying attention to it, audiophiles call it background music or background listening. You could say, "I was cleaning the house and had a movie (or a TV show) on in the background."

12ebc200

28 January

Japanese

@Marcus_Bolanus you could say "
I was half ass listening"?

Marcus_Bolanus

28 January

English (US)

Well, "half-assed" is informal, maybe even a little vulgar, so it depends on who your talking to. But "half-assed" means you are doing something requiring effort, and watching TV often requires little effort. Probably more correct would be: I watching TV and doing a half-assed job of cleaning the house."

Marcus_Bolanus

29 January

English (US)

How embarrassing! I have to correct my own grammar:
Well, "half-assed" is informal, maybe even a little vulgar, so it depends on who you're talking to. But "half-assed" means you are doing something requiring effort, and watching TV often requires little effort. Probably more correct would be: I watching TV and doing a half-assed job of cleaning the house."

Marcus_Bolanus

29 January

English (US)

"I was watching TV and doing a half-assed job of cleaning the house."

12ebc200

29 January

Japanese

@Marcus_Bolanus Thank you😊

[News] Hey you! The one learning a language!

Do you know how to improve your language skills❓ All you have to do is have your writing corrected by a native speaker!
With HiNative, you can have your writing corrected by native speakers for free ✍️✨.

Share this question

Copy URL

How do you say this in English (US)? How do you describe the situation like this with one word?
You turned on TV but you're not watching and listening. You are doing something else with TV on.

How do you say this in English (US)? How do you describe the situation like this with one word? You turned on TV but you're not watching and listening. You are doing something else with TV on. See a translation

Multitasking

wasting

I don't know if there is one word for this. If you are playing music but not paying attention to it, audiophiles call it background music or background listening. You could say, "I was cleaning the house and had a movie (or a TV show) on in the background."

"I was watching TV and doing a half-assed job of cleaning the house."

How do you say this in English (US)? How do you describe the situation like this with one word?
You turned on TV but you're not watching and listening. You are doing something else with TV on.