Autocorrect is my worst enema
There’s a meme sweeping Facebook this week that has been cracking me up. It says, “Autocorrect has become my worst enema.”
Of course, it is a jab at the errors made by our phones and computers, specifically that little program that is designed to help us (forget how to) spell. The play on words in the meme amuses me greatly, but corrections made in my texts that are not what I meant irritate me just as greatly.
It’s actually a godsend for people like my son, who has learning disabilities in that area. As he types his book reports and papers for school, autocorrect and spell check point out things that he just would never notice.
When you send a text message, you only need to spell part of the word before software gives you a suggestion on how to complete it. Tapping the suggestion prevents you from having to type the entire word, saving you several taps on your screen. In today’s fast-paced society, this is very popular.
I’ll admit, though, certain words like license, weird, and conscientious I’ve always given me a hard time. Because of autocorrect, I will likely never need to struggle with how to spell them, as these programs will do it for me. Unless the Wi-Fi is out, and then I’m beat.
But as the name suggests, the system is not perfect. Autocorrect has been known to fail, as in the meme. In fact, do a Google search called “autocorrect fails”, and you will discover ample times when the program thought the typist was saying something distinctly different from what the intent was. Disclaimer: It is often lewd, so look at your own risk.
One of the most challenging things I have discovered is that autocorrect does not understand names. I have several nieces and nephews, along with many friends, who are not named with what I would consider common monikers. Autocorrect hates this. It tries to shorten, change, delete letters and otherwise normalize people’s names.
For example, my nephew is named Coen.
For a solid first year of his life, my cellphone insisted on calling him “corn.” After I typed his name, not only did it change it, but it insisted on adding the little emoji of an ear of corn beside it. This was super uncool! Do you know how many times I called him corn?
“So, are you babysitting Corn tonight?” I have been known to ask my daughter.
“Does Corn still want to come over tonight?”
“What does Corn want for his birthday?”
After awhile, with many proofreads and self-corrections being made, it doesn’t do this anymore. It finally recognizes his name, thankfully.
I have to be really careful with my grocery lists, however, otherwise I discover that I’m planning to have Coen on the cob for supper.