logoalt Hacker News

wccrawford • today at 7:25 PM • 7 replies • view on HN

"none of these typos, with the exception of the jammed-together dialogue, prohibit access to meaning"

I hear that excuse constantly on the web if I try to correct people. And maybe it doesn't "prohibit access", but it does force me to think about things that aren't the point of the message, in order to figure out the point of the message.

I've given up correcting people. I'm old enough now that it's time to just watch people's choices come back on them. The whole world will pay for it, and I've done what I can.

I can't even get people to stop using "weary" to mean "wary". That's a whole different meaning, and there are so many people that use it wrong.


Replies

swed420 • today at 8:23 PM

> I've given up correcting people.

I have a working theory that the prevalence of typos has been increasing in recent years, and it's on purpose:

* Humans trying to distinguish themselves from bots might add intentional typos to convey this

* AI bots, armed with the above knowledge, will also use this trick to seem more human

Of course, many typos are genuine, but this is increasingly not the case imo.

➕ show 2 replies
nocman • today at 8:07 PM

> I can't even get people to stop using "weary" to mean "wary"

Interesting, I don't recall seeing that one before. Do you think people are mentally just adding a 'y' to the word 'wear' (and still pronouncing it in their head like 'wary') -- or do you think they are thinking of it as the real word 'weary' (having the long 'e' sound like the word 'weep')?

paulpauper • today at 8:55 PM

Corectign can be pedanitic. If peopel can udnerstnad what you meant despite typeos, then successfull comjicaito nws achived. LLMs demsontrate this as they cna pasrse texst with heavy typos.

(typos deliebrate to prove point)

➕ show 1 reply
8note • today at 7:52 PM

i don't know how much of it has been thrown out/superceded, but Thinking Fast and Slow would suggest it actually makes you slow down to think about the material, rather than jumping past.

"Force you to think" as long as the meaning isnt changed, isnt a bad thing

➕ show 3 replies
Timwi • today at 8:51 PM

Don't even get me started on e.g. vs. i.e.

➕ show 1 reply
Isamu • today at 8:28 PM

It concerns me though when a programmer “could care less” about the difference between an expression and its negation.

pixl97 • today at 7:55 PM

Eh, "modern people problems", kinda like first world problems.

Language has always been a localization of mispronounced and misspelled words. Just think about every word for an item but is just very slightly different across languages. The more modern age (lets say somewhere between the printing press and now) is exceptional as different languages and dialects have absolutely collapsed. Local dialects became regional and mixed. In smaller countries regional dialects became national. In big countries like the US meme words spread quickly across the nation because of things like radio, TV, and now internet.

You were living an a massively privileged position in time and you didn't realize it.

➕ show 2 replies