“Want to continue with unlimited access? We’re offering a 15% off deal! Redeem here”
What does “redeem” mean? Does it mean “read” or “pay”?
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To redeem something is when you ‘cash something in’ or ‘apply a discount’.
The best way to think of it is if you have a coupon or voucher, ‘redeeming’ it is simply using it, taking the voucher up on its offer so to speak. So you have a coupon which gives you 10% off a book in a book store. Going to the shop and using the voucher to buy a book would be considered ‘redeeming the voucher’.
To redeem oneself is to make up for something you’ve done wrong. So, a soccer player scores an own goal but redeems himself by going to the other end of the pitch and scoring the winner.
I think etymology helps understand the different meanings of this word. It ultimately comes from Latin “redemere” = “re” + “emere”, meaning “buy back”. The use in this case (using a voucher, or coupon to get a discount) is more closely related to this original meaning.
The Latin word was also used to mean “buy back a person”, i.e., “ransom”, and in this sense it was applied in a religious context, to refer to Christ’s sacrifice in order to “ransom” humanity. The English meaning of “making up for something wrong” is connected to this use.
“Want to continue with unlimited access? We’re offering a 15% off deal! Redeem here”
What does “redeem” mean? Does it mean “read” or “pay”?
"Want to continue with unlimited access?”
= Do you want to continue with unlimited access?
“We’re offering a 15% off deal!”
= We are offering a 15% discount.
“Redeem here"
= Take advantage of the 15% discount here
= Receive the 15% discount by using this link to pay for unlimited access
here = by clicking this link
here = by paying for unlimited access using this link
here = by paying for unlimited access here
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And in order to underline your comment:
Our again-buyer, the Lord of hosts is his name, the Holy of Israel. (Our Redeemer, the Lord of hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel.)
Isaiah 47:4 (Wycliff Bible)
Prophecy from Isaiah accomplished by Jesus-Christ 1600 years later.
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“This voucher can be redeemed at any of our branches.”
I found the above sentence in a dictionary. In this case the verb assumes an object, that is, “this voucher”; therefore it is a transitive verb. In the sentence “Redeem here” there is no object. Could this be considered a common expression?
Yep, it’s pretty commonly used with discounts and gift certificates. I wouldn’t get too hung up on the sentence structure.
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