# So which morons came up with predictive text? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 29, 2007, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-which-morons-came-up-with-predictive-text/417401 "2007-08-29T19:27:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2007, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-which-morons-came-up-with-predictive-text/417401/1 "2007-08-29T19:27:34Z")
I’ve been meaning to have a moan about this for a while, but it’s hardly Pit -worthy so here we are. Predictive text on mobile phones. A great labour-saving device, no? Well, yes by and large but it was clearly implemented by idiots, or at least people with very different social lives from the majority of cellphone users. Who, for instance, thought that if someone types the combination (MNO) (TUV) (MNO), they were more likely to have the word **nun** in mind than **mum**? Were they raised in a convent, perhaps? And how about (GHI) (PQRS) (ABC) (MNO). Is the person arranging to see their **gran**? No, don’t be silly! They are much more likely to be planning a visit to **Iran**. :smack: And why plan to go out for a **pint**? All the cool people prefer a **shot** or two! ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2007, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-which-morons-came-up-with-predictive-text/417401/2 "2007-08-29T19:34:39Z")
I have predictive text, but it’s only based on stuff that I’ve written in the past. So if I start writing “sec…” it’ll fill that in as “second.” If I start writing “next” it’ll add “wknd.” It actually works pretty well. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2007, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-which-morons-came-up-with-predictive-text/417401/3 "2007-08-29T19:55:13Z")
[QUOTE=Colophon] And why plan to go out for a **pint**? All the cool people prefer a **shot** or two! [/QUOTE] Huh. My phone always tried to tell me ‘shot’, but it learns from previous use, and now understands that I far prefer to ask friends if they fancy a pint. And as with **Zoggie** , it automatically adds non-dictionary words to its predictions once it’s seen them. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2007, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-which-morons-came-up-with-predictive-text/417401/4 "2007-08-29T19:55:27Z")
[QUOTE=Zoggie] I have predictive text, but it’s only based on stuff that I’ve written in the past. So if I start writing “sec…” it’ll fill that in as “second.” [/QUOTE] Mine has that as well. My husband’s is that described by Colophon. I HATE IT. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2007, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-which-morons-came-up-with-predictive-text/417401/5 "2007-08-29T20:06:43Z")
My phone is pretty ancient (for 21st-century values of ancient), so that must be it. It does learn words that are not in its dictionary, but it is not advanced enough to alter its order of precedence by learning how frequently I use them. What is more bizarre and annoying is that accepts certain strings of characters that are not words, nor are they the start of words, and will continue to offer those as a first alternative over and above real words that it has learnt. For instance, if I try to enter “yateley” (the name of my home town), the first choice is “wavelew”. Huh? It knows about “yateley” because I have entered it before, but it requires me to scroll down one choice to enter it. WHY? ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2007, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-which-morons-came-up-with-predictive-text/417401/6 "2007-08-29T20:09:01Z")
The one that you describe, **Colophon** does sound bad. Is it an English thing? A friend of mine abroad in England mentioned getting a phone for the semester she was there. She talked about the mobile phone being irritating/hard to use for texting. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2007, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-which-morons-came-up-with-predictive-text/417401/7 "2007-08-29T20:09:46Z")
I have a TracFone and the predictive text is awful there, too. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2007, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-which-morons-came-up-with-predictive-text/417401/8 "2007-08-29T20:10:05Z")
[QUOTE=Zoggie] Is it an English thing? A friend of mine abroad in England mentioned getting a phone for the semester she was there. She talked about the mobile phone being irritating/hard to use for texting. [/QUOTE] Pssst…google my location 😉 ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2007, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-which-morons-came-up-with-predictive-text/417401/9 "2007-08-29T20:10:21Z")
[QUOTE=Colophon] And why plan to go out for a **pint**? All the cool people prefer a **shot** or two! [/QUOTE] I predict a **riot**. ---
**Author:** ![zelie\_zelerton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/59ef9b/32.png) [@zelie\_zelerton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zelie_zelerton)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2007, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-which-morons-came-up-with-predictive-text/417401/10 "2007-08-29T20:13:25Z")
Mine offers words I have taught it but it still doesn’t ‘learn’ through use of other words already there. Why would ‘on’ be more common than ‘no’? It just doesn’t make sense. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2007, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-which-morons-came-up-with-predictive-text/417401/11 "2007-08-29T20:14:35Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] I predict a **riot**. [/QUOTE] If you have more than one glass of beer you could get the **pious** in. Another one: my girlfriend’s name is Jo. Surely the first choice for that combination should not be “Km”? How many English words start “jo” compared with “km”? Madness. Edit: and do you know, despite this bugging me for years, I have _only just this minute realised_ why “km” is there. Duh! ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2007, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-which-morons-came-up-with-predictive-text/417401/12 "2007-08-29T20:25:27Z")
[QUOTE=GorillaMan] Pssst…google my location 😉 [/QUOTE] Oh, I was aware that the OP was from England. (Sorry, wasn’t looking at your location.) I was just wondering if it was exclusively a problem with English phones, since no one I know complains about predictive text, except for the person I knew who was abroad there. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2007, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-which-morons-came-up-with-predictive-text/417401/13 "2007-08-29T20:27:48Z")
Am I being whooshed and is the joke that it’s an American English prediction? ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2007, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-which-morons-came-up-with-predictive-text/417401/14 "2007-08-29T20:31:05Z")
[QUOTE=Zoggie] Oh, I was aware that the OP was from England. (Sorry, wasn’t looking at your location.) I was just wondering if it was exclusively a problem with English phones, since no one I know complains about predictive text, except for the person I knew who was abroad there. [/QUOTE] I don’t see why it should be. Mobile phones are pretty international, aren’t they? I mean, my phone is a bog-standard Nokia - a Finnish company, hardware probably assembled by 8-year-olds in China\*. We’re not talking a half-timbered Olde Shakespearian Portable Telephonic Apparatus produced by Simpkins & Co. \*OK, I just checked: “MADE IN FINLAND”. Colour me surprised. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2007, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-which-morons-came-up-with-predictive-text/417401/15 "2007-08-29T20:38:16Z")
[QUOTE=Colophon] I don’t see why it should be. Mobile phones are pretty international, aren’t they? I mean, my phone is a bog-standard Nokia - a Finnish company, hardware probably assembled by 8-year-olds in China\*. We’re not talking a half-timbered Olde Shakespearian Portable Telephonic Apparatus produced by Simpkins & Co. \*OK, I just checked: “MADE IN FINLAND”. Colour me surprised. [/QUOTE] Hm. Look to the Finns. Seriously, though, now I want an Olde Shakesperian Portable Telephonic Apparatus! More than you will ever know. You’d think that it would be a fairly universal thing. The only reason I was wondering was that my friend was clearly bitching about this English phone problem, and I noticed you were in England. Do Dopers from other countries encounter this phone problem as well? ---
**Author:** ![Lionne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Lionne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lionne)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2007, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-which-morons-came-up-with-predictive-text/417401/16 "2007-08-29T20:42:18Z")
My predictive text peeve: \*\*going \*\* - not until I type the last \*\*g \*\* does it show. What the hell is ‘img’ or ‘hohn’? ---
**Author:** ![ShelliBean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f9ae1b/32.png) [@ShelliBean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShelliBean)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2007, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-which-morons-came-up-with-predictive-text/417401/17 "2007-08-29T20:42:54Z")
I want to know why I can’t use the word ‘freaking’ without it automatically going to ‘freakhog’ - I mean seriously. Freakhog? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2007, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-which-morons-came-up-with-predictive-text/417401/18 "2007-08-29T20:47:01Z")
I’m guessing that [this abortive thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=187834) from four years ago has finally come of age…? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Universe\_Lashes\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8797f3/32.png) [@The\_Universe\_Lashes\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Universe_Lashes_Out)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2007, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-which-morons-came-up-with-predictive-text/417401/19 "2007-08-29T20:49:51Z")
If I just hit the number four, my first choice is… “G”. Cause of course, I would never have the need to refer to myself in the first person while texting. “G” is much more likely. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2007, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-which-morons-came-up-with-predictive-text/417401/20 "2007-08-29T20:54:10Z")
[QUOTE=HowieReynolds] If I just hit the number four, my first choice is… “G”. Cause of course, I would never have the need to refer to myself in the first person while texting. “G” is much more likely. [/QUOTE] Are you sure you have predictive mode switched on? Even my phone comes up with “I” for that one, unless of course it’s in non-predictive mode in which case you have to press “4” three times to get an “I”. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-which-morons-came-up-with-predictive-text/417401.md?page=2)