# Blunders with predictive text **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 25, 2004, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blunders-with-predictive-text/276674 "2004-11-25T20:53:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blunders-with-predictive-text/276674/1 "2004-11-25T20:53:13Z")
So, I was going to be going out after work tonight and staying with a friend in London. As it turns out, I’m not, so I will be going home after all. I just sent a text message to my girlfriend to let her know, so she won’t double lock the front door on me. Only the word “home” is the second choice in the text dictionary. After “good”. So I actually sent: Hi babe, hope your day went ok. Don’t lock the door cos I will be good tonight! I shall leave you to imagine her sarcastic reply… ---
**Author:** ![MacSpon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@MacSpon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacSpon)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2004, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blunders-with-predictive-text/276674/2 "2004-11-26T00:21:07Z")
Did she hope you would be _very_ good? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2004, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blunders-with-predictive-text/276674/3 "2004-11-26T02:04:22Z")
Going to pick up a movie on my way home -\> Going to pick up a mother on my way home. “FILM” is an anagrammatical acronym, apparently. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2004, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blunders-with-predictive-text/276674/4 "2004-11-26T11:30:08Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > “FILM” is an anagrammatical acronym, apparently. That took me a minute 🙂 I read a story in the paper a while back about a woman that caused her husband to call the police in panic after she sent - or intended to send - a message saying she’d be late home: “Train held up - Anna.” Unfortunately, phones don’t like the word “Anna” half as much as they like the word “Bomb”. Hubby tried to call Anna, but by this time the train was in a tunnel or something. He couldn’t get through, and assumed the worst… :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2004, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blunders-with-predictive-text/276674/5 "2004-11-26T11:44:29Z")
I haven’t got a cell phone or ever used text messaging - is this what they are making fun of in that recent commercial, where the lady says “Thanks, Tom, I had fun tonight” and the phone translates it back to her as “Thanks, Tom, I have lip fungus.” ?? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2004, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blunders-with-predictive-text/276674/6 "2004-11-26T11:57:16Z")
A few months ago my wife was concerned that I was out getting absolutely twatted because I texted her “Back soon. [Friend] just bought me one more shot”, which should have read: “Back soon. [Friend] just bought me one more pint.” Oh how we laughed. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2004, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blunders-with-predictive-text/276674/7 "2004-11-26T12:27:01Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > A few months ago my wife was concerned that I was out getting absolutely twatted because I texted her “Back soon. [Friend] just bought me one more shot”, which should have read: “Back soon. [Friend] just bought me one more pint.” > > Oh how we laughed. You do realise a pint has more alcohol than a shot, right? Right? 😉 **Anastasaeon** - I guess so, although I don’t know the advert. Basically, predicitve text means that rather than pressing, say, the “2” key to get a “c” and so on, you just press each number key once for a letter, and at the end of a word the phone guesses the word. If it’s not the right one you toggle through to the next one. So, to type elephant on a non-predictive phone you’d have to type: 3 3 5 5 5 3 3 7 4 4 2 6 6 8. With predictive text you just type 3 5 3 7 4 2 6 8. Unfortunately, phones choose “good” before “home”, “shot” before “pint”, and “he” before “if”, even though the second choice would seem to be more common in texts. And “nun” before “mum”, which is just crazy. Unless you live in a convent. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2004, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blunders-with-predictive-text/276674/8 "2004-11-26T12:36:19Z")
Apparently the newer models of Nokia have a word-usage memory that alters the first word chosen based on its popularity with the user. Now if only they get copy and paste, I’ll be happy. ---
**Author:** ![raz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@raz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raz)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2004, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blunders-with-predictive-text/276674/9 "2004-11-26T21:33:54Z")
I always accidentally send messages that say “I foot care” instead of “I dont care” which is kind of weird. Also when I try to type the word “you”, the first word it comes up with is “xou”. Come on now, that isn’t even a word! ---
**Author:** ![Kayeby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de0a6/32.png) [@Kayeby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kayeby)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2004, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blunders-with-predictive-text/276674/10 "2004-11-27T02:04:05Z")
My cousin got a dirty SMS from the guy she was seeing that ended with the line: **I want to lick your puppy** ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2004, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blunders-with-predictive-text/276674/11 "2004-11-27T02:46:34Z")
Bah. I scoff. You know you have a problem with text messaging when you can spell out, letter-by-letter, a message _faster_ than a friend can do it using the dictionary on their phone. Although, occasionally, that does lead to me texting friends with messages like: “q xov gohmh a novhdr w us?” when I meant to text, “r you going 2 movies w us?” Even more distressing, they generally can guess what I meant…