# The autoincorrect function on our cell phones **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 11, 2022, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-autoincorrect-function-on-our-cell-phones/962686 "2022-04-11T20:48:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![billy-jack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@billy-jack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billy-jack)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-autoincorrect-function-on-our-cell-phones/962686/1 "2022-04-11T20:48:33Z")
The autoincorrect function can definitely cause embarrassment. I sent a text message to one woman I have known for years when she called me about a problem she was having. However, the problem is with some gear sold to her by someone in another town. So my message was: You need to get the guy in (name of nearby town) to check that out. It came out as: You need to go eat the guy in (name of nearby town) to check that out. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-autoincorrect-function-on-our-cell-phones/962686/2 "2022-04-11T20:52:28Z")
I love the “autoincorrect” name for it. I honestly believe that auto"correct" is a little elf that lives in your device and is sincerely trying with all his tiny heart to help you, but he’s very very drunk. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-autoincorrect-function-on-our-cell-phones/962686/3 "2022-04-11T21:53:00Z")
There’s a website for that, although it looks like they haven’t posted any new content since 2018. > **[PG Slot เว็บตรง สล็อตPG แตกง่าย เว็บสล็อต PG ทั้งหมด ค่าย PG](https://www.damnyouautocorrect.com/)** > > อันดับ 1 เกมสล็อตค่าย PG ที่แตกง่ายที่สุด สำหรับ PG Slot เว็บตรง สล็อตPG เว็บตรง เว็บสล็อต PG เว็บตรง PGสล็อตเว็บตรง หรือ Slot PG เว็บตรง ในเว็บสล็อต PG ทั้งหมด ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-autoincorrect-function-on-our-cell-phones/962686/4 "2022-04-11T22:04:04Z")
Can I hijack this thread to type whatever my phone thinks I should say? Or do you want me know if it doesn’t come through yet because of a noise when adjusting the air to a new flamingo and how long it takes to find out Google? Or do you want to get a new one if you want to get a piece of wood that can be pushed up against the opening more firmly than cardboard and the new genotypes is not available for sale at the same time as the next charger over worked without a problem. Just as rambly as my usually posting, so I say good job phone! ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-autoincorrect-function-on-our-cell-phones/962686/5 "2022-04-11T22:45:51Z")
The worst is when it “corrects” to **not** when you meant **now** and vice versa. It’s not a humorous mistake and doesn’t even look like an autocorrect issue but will _completely_ change the meaning of the reply. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-autoincorrect-function-on-our-cell-phones/962686/6 "2022-04-11T23:01:27Z")
The first thing I do when I get a new phone or tablet is to turn off autocorrect, and I don’t understand why more people don’t do the same. I’m pretty sure that if I left it on, it would introduce way more mistakes than it fixed; and even if it didn’t, at least this way my mistakes are _my_ mistakes, and I’m willing to take full responsibility for them. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-autoincorrect-function-on-our-cell-phones/962686/7 "2022-04-11T23:13:35Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > The first thing I do when I get a new phone or tablet is to turn off autocorrect… Wait? What? I had to get a new phone a few weeks ago and have barely learned how to answer a call! ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2022, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-autoincorrect-function-on-our-cell-phones/962686/8 "2022-04-12T00:23:45Z")
A friend and I have fun with it… it all started years ago when, in the middle of a long, late night text conversation, I sent: > That must have been very dildo. > Shoot! I meant dildo! > Damn autocorrect. I typed dildo and it came out dildo! > Now that time it changed as I sent it! I’d clearly texted dildo but then as I hit SEND… > There! It did it again! It’s supposed to say dildo!!! ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2022, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-autoincorrect-function-on-our-cell-phones/962686/9 "2022-04-12T00:32:49Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > The first thing I do when I get a new phone or tablet is to turn off autocorrect, and I don’t understand why more people don’t do the same. I’m pretty sure that if I left it on, it would introduce way more mistakes than it fixed; and even if it didn’t, at least this way my mistakes are _my_ mistakes, and I’m willing to take full responsibility for them. I agree with that; if autocorrect is so often wrong, why don’t other people turn it off? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2022, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-autoincorrect-function-on-our-cell-phones/962686/10 "2022-04-12T02:58:31Z")
I don’t generally have any problem with it. The only issue is that sometimes it thinks i’m in Quebec and surreptitiously starts sneaking in the odd French correction, even when I have the English keyboard turned on. ---
**Author:** ![billy-jack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@billy-jack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billy-jack)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2022, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-autoincorrect-function-on-our-cell-phones/962686/11 "2022-04-12T06:35:28Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > I had to get a new phone a few weeks ago and have barely learned how to answer a call! I got a new phone about a year and a half ago. It bugs me with so many beeps, most of which I have no idea why they are there since they have nothing to do with calls, text messages, and e-mail that I hardly pay attention any more. I finally found the thing on notifications and turned so many off that I’m not sure that it rings any more when someone calls me. I was sitting at the deli counter at a drug store one Friday afternoon when an amber alert was issued. It was interesting to hear the wave of beeps as everyone in the store received the amber alert one or two at a time. Of course, I was the last one in the drug store to get the amber alert. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2022, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-autoincorrect-function-on-our-cell-phones/962686/12 "2022-04-12T07:01:50Z")
Thanks so much for your helpful advice! However, I turned the autocorrect OFF years ago. The damn thing thinks it knows so much more than I do, it insists on “fixing” my poor spelling. Except I’m a very good speller. It also starts the next sentence. Which is always NOTHING I had intended to say. Now I have the explanation: it’s a drunk, invisible elf that lives inside my phone, and he hates me. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2022, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-autoincorrect-function-on-our-cell-phones/962686/13 "2022-04-12T09:18:56Z")
I know a guy who got busted because auto suggest helpfully completed the sentence with his girlfriend’s name. But the problem was that it was a text to his wife. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2022, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-autoincorrect-function-on-our-cell-phones/962686/14 "2022-04-12T16:17:54Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > if autocorrect is so often wrong, why don’t other people turn it off? I find autocorrect convenient much of the time, more often than it’s an annoyance. Especially when typing contractions. I can type “Im”, for example, and it will change it to “I’m” for me, without having to go through the extra keystrokes of typing a punctuation mark on a phone keyboard. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2022, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-autoincorrect-function-on-our-cell-phones/962686/15 "2022-04-13T12:05:23Z")
I wish it would default to “we’re” when you type “were,” though. Probably a few others, too. Is there a way to edit the dictionary in that way? ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2022, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-autoincorrect-function-on-our-cell-phones/962686/16 "2022-04-13T12:30:40Z")
IME with mine the main, and possibly only, offense is that it keeps changing “Covid” to “vivid”, though in a dark sort of way it is appropriate.