diff --git a/applets/systemmonitor/common/contents/ui/DoublePlotter.qml b/applets/systemmonitor/common/contents/ui/DoublePlotter.qml
--- a/applets/systemmonitor/common/contents/ui/DoublePlotter.qml
+++ b/applets/systemmonitor/common/contents/ui/DoublePlotter.qml
@@ -27,6 +27,8 @@
 KQuickAddons.Plotter {
     id: plotter
     property string sensorName: model.friendlyName1
+    property string downloadLabel: "⬇"
+    property string uploadLabel: "⬆"
 
     Layout.fillWidth: true
     Layout.fillHeight: true
@@ -102,10 +104,12 @@
 
             if (plasmoid.formFactor !== PlasmaCore.Types.Vertical) {
                 nameLabel.text = plotter.sensorName
-                speedLabel.text = i18n("<font color='%1'>⬇</font> %2 | <font color='%3'>⬆</font> %4",
+                speedLabel.text = i18n("<font color='%1'>%2</font> %3 | <font color='%4'>%5</font> %6",
                                         downloadColor,
+                                        downloadLabel,
                                         formatData(data1),
                                         uploadColor,
+                                        uploadLabel,
                                         formatData(data2))
             } else {
                 nameLabel.text = plotter.sensorName+ "\n" + formatData(data1) + "\n" + formatData(data2)
diff --git a/applets/systemmonitor/diskactivity/contents/ui/diskactivity.qml b/applets/systemmonitor/diskactivity/contents/ui/diskactivity.qml
--- a/applets/systemmonitor/diskactivity/contents/ui/diskactivity.qml
+++ b/applets/systemmonitor/diskactivity/contents/ui/diskactivity.qml
@@ -37,6 +37,8 @@
     }
 
     delegate: DoublePlotter {
+        downloadLabel: i18nc("Part of a read/write pair, as in: Read: 5 kb/s | Write: 0 kb/s", "Read:")
+        uploadLabel: i18nc("Part of a read/write pair, as in: Read: 5 kb/s | Write: 0 kb/s", "Write:")
         function formatData(data) {
             return i18nc("%1 is value of data per seconds", "%1/s", KCoreAddons.Format.formatByteSize(data.value * 1024))
         }