Another Auto-correct fail

http://www.wpix.com/news/ktla-auto-correct-text-message,0,5102895.story

GAINESVILLE, GA -- Two schools were placed under lockdown after an auto corrected text message appeared to threaten a school massacre.

The actual text was "gunna be at west hall today."

But according to the Gainesville Times, the sender's new cellphone changed the spelling of "gunna" to "gunman" and law enforcement was notified.

Adding to the confusion, the sender sent the text to the wrong number.

The person who received the text notified police.

Lockdowns were ordered at both West Hall middle and high schools while officials investigated.

Turns out the sender was a student at an entirely different school. Police determined the student had no intentions of harm.

"It was a combination of odd circumstances," a Hall County Sheriff's Office spokesman said.

Uhhhhh, oops.

yea.. just a little. Sometimes it is fun to see what the autocorrect recommends

How long before we have laws banning auto correct?

I always wondered, what's the difference between a lock up and a lock down?

this question lets everyone in on the fact that I don't have a fancy enough phone to worry about auto-correct ...

isn't there some way to turn it off ?

wbjones wrote: this question lets everyone in on the fact that I don't have a fancy enough phone to worry about auto-correct ... isn't there some way to turn it off ?

Yes, but turning it off does make texting or posting to a forum a lot slower. And after a few slips you get better at paying attention. What often gets you is when it auto-corrects a word you would think to be "normal."

the most frustrating is when my 4s gives an autocorrect suggestion, and i tap on the x to say "no thanks" more often than not, it replaces the word i was just trying not to fix. then when you go change it back it tries to correct again, and round and round we go

My wonderment is that no-one seems to be questioning the fact that a student was trying to use the term "gunna". Is that laziness or ignorance?

Turboeric wrote: My wonderment is that no-one seems to be questioning the fact that a student was trying to use the term "gunna". Is that laziness or ignorance?

Cool, I'd guess.

Strizzo wrote: the most frustrating is when my 4s gives an autocorrect suggestion, and i tap on the x to say "no thanks" more often than not, it replaces the word i was just trying *not* to fix. then when you go change it back it tries to correct again, and round and round we go

that kinda makes my point .... about turning it off ....

Turboeric wrote: My wonderment is that no-one seems to be questioning the fact that a student was trying to use the term "gunna". Is that laziness or ignorance?

We use the term "you are" these days instead of "thou art."

I'm pretty sure the first guy to say "you are" had his laziness or ignorance questioned too.

Taiden wrote:

Turboeric wrote: My wonderment is that no-one seems to be questioning the fact that a student was trying to use the term "gunna". Is that laziness or ignorance?

We use the term "you are" these days instead of "thou art." I'm pretty sure the first guy to say "you are" had his laziness or ignorance questioned too.

Using the plural "you" in place of the singular "thou" didn't involve making up a new word though. If we're going to be pedantic though, we might as well point out there there is no reason to use the letter "u" when typing "gonna".

gonna is a colloquial contraction of "going to"

It's a conversational spelling of what someone would say in person.

Does that mean typing "y'all" means your intelligence is lower?

Also, out of curiosity, how is "you are" plural? It's plural and singular based on context. No one says "you is"

Well, people do, and it's far worse than typing "gonna" into a text message IMO.

Taiden wrote: Also, out of curiosity, how is "you are" plural? It's plural and singular based on context. No one says "you is"

"You" was a plural form of "thou". No one ever would have said "you is", they would have said "thou is".

Interesting thing of note is that for all the pedants decrying the loss of language skills, kids who text are actually BETTER writers. Why? Because they're actually writing! They're constantly practicing turning thoughts and ideas into a succinct set of words (140 character max!), where the alternative was that kids weren't writing at all.

In reply to ReverendDexter:

I've seen some texts that may contest that fact. I don't think such could be considered sentences or paragraphs, but a compound of words that may or may not make sense.

N Sperlo wrote: In reply to ReverendDexter: I've seen some texts that may contest that fact. I don't think such could be considered sentences or paragraphs, but a compound of words that may or may not make sense.

It's not the writing in SMS that's better, it's the writing when they're doing papers for school and the like.

And really, it makes sense. It's writing divorced from editing, which is how you're supposed to write a first draft (though it's certainly not taught that way in K-12).

wbjones wrote:

Strizzo wrote: the most frustrating is when my 4s gives an autocorrect suggestion, and i tap on the x to say "no thanks" more often than not, it replaces the word i was just trying *not* to fix. then when you go change it back it tries to correct again, and round and round we go

that kinda makes my point .... about turning it off ....

well it saves more fat finger mistakes than it causes still, its just when it gives a suggestion, it pisses me off that it seemingly refuses to accept no for an answer half the time. i get it that its one issue causing another, the old iOS would can the suggestion if you hit the little box anywhere, the new one it only works if you hit the X.

I had the autocorrect turned off in the first five minutes of owning a droid.

buddy sent me this message that Siri helped with:

"haha I'll fell off my kite to get a good baby what is right by probably going overwhelms of April debilitate pictures but your the best place"

ReverendDexter wrote:

N Sperlo wrote: In reply to ReverendDexter: I've seen some texts that may contest that fact. I don't think such could be considered sentences or paragraphs, but a compound of words that may or may not make sense.

It's not the writing in SMS that's better, it's the writing when they're doing papers for school and the like. And really, it makes sense. It's writing divorced from editing, which is how you're supposed to write a first draft (though it's certainly not taught that way in K-12).

Just spoke with my resident expert. My sister teaches high school English and her experience is that when technology is not in use there is a noticeable negative result that can be attributed to things like Autocorrect. Its a great teaching tool if used correctly. Keep in mind she was talking about written work, which believe it or not, she still has them do.