I have Shakespeare's missing tablet

@Rollo1 (16679)
Boston, Massachusetts
January 6, 2017 6:49am CST
The problem with autocorrect is not that it wants to suggest that you really meant to type something else - sometimes we do type or swipe things badly. The problem is that it doesn't suggest, it doesn't even ask. It just assumes that it knows better. So type the word you want as much as you like, it may still substitute another if you are not paying attention. Sometimes this results in hilarious Facebook memes. Sometimes this results in horrifying messages sent to unsuspecting friends and relatives. Yesterday, my tablet's autocorrect decided - not once, not twice, but THREE times - to change "you" to "thou". And it makes you wonder - how often do people type "you" when they really mean "thou"? And you wonder why, when your fingers don't hit all the right letters and you maybe type "tou" that the tablet opts for "thou" instead of the word that I think is used more often? Isn't it? Used more often, I mean? But mostly, I wonder why the word "thou" is even loaded into autocorrect. Can it be that millions of people are using Facebook messenger and Skype to type Elizabethan sonnets to one another? Unless, I just have Shakespeare's missing tablet. I wonder who's got his cell phone?
15 people like this
15 responses
@Plethos (13560)
• United States
6 Jan 17
"longeth timeth nay seeth! desire all is well and valorous with thee" i hate auto correct. i also write some words in spanish, and it always corrects me, siempre ! i remember when you could turn it off , now thats not an option. have you heard of this , it translates what you write to shakespearean.- give it a whirl.
Convert English into Shakespearean with this online translator.
2 people like this
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
6 Jan 17
My tablet knows Spanish, too, but it won't auto-correct French. Ah well.
1 person likes this
@Jessicalynnt (50525)
• Centralia, Missouri
7 Jan 17
that is a funny one, and deff odd. I cannot see thou being used that often!
1 person likes this
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
11 Jan 17
And yet, it keeps doing it. I can't understand why it's the default option.
1 person likes this
• Centralia, Missouri
12 Jan 17
@Rollo1 yeah, that seems like a really dumb default, albeit amusing
@DWDavis (25812)
• Pikeville, North Carolina
7 Jan 17
It does seem odd that an autocorrect would have thou programmed to replace you, unless it was indeed, Shakespeare's.
1 person likes this
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
11 Jan 17
If Shakespeare had possessed a tablet PC, do you think he would have written all those plays and sonnets, or would he be working to level up on Candy Crush Saga?
1 person likes this
@DWDavis (25812)
• Pikeville, North Carolina
12 Jan 17
@Rollo1 He'd probably be killing it on Candy Crush Saga.
@LadyDuck (458091)
• Switzerland
7 Jan 17
I turned the auto correct off, when I type in Italian or French it makes a mess.
1 person likes this
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
11 Jan 17
Mine understands Spanish but definitely not French.
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (458091)
• Switzerland
12 Jan 17
@Rollo1 They seem to understand English and Spanish, but not the other languages.
@pgntwo (22408)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
6 Jan 17
Thou speakest with forkéd tongue, methinks. That confused it....
1 person likes this
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
11 Jan 17
Yea, and if t'were when I spake that mine tablet did err, I would credit it to a forkéd tongue for as an orator I possess no great gift. But nay, it is when mine fingers do glide across its smooth letters that it takes upon itself the duty of correcting me, as if I were a schoolchild who hath blotted her copybook.
1 person likes this
@pgntwo (22408)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
11 Jan 17
@Rollo1 Forsooth, they have the habit of making one look foolish, t'is true.
@Happy2BeMe (99399)
• Canada
6 Jan 17
It happens to me all the time. I will type a post on here and when I post it the words will not even be what I was typing. I have to get in the habit of post reading everything I write before I hit Respond. My tablet is so bad for that. Makes for some laughs though. Some of the words they replace other words with are ridiculous!
1 person likes this
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
6 Jan 17
I hate it when I don't notice the autocorrect atrocities before I hit enter.
1 person likes this
@Happy2BeMe (99399)
• Canada
7 Jan 17
@Rollo1 me too and then somebody will make a comment about it
@celticeagle (159020)
• Boise, Idaho
6 Jan 17
I think I'd change my spell checker. I wonder about the 'thou' being there too.
1 person likes this
@BelleStarr (61047)
• United States
9 Jan 17
You have to see the silly thing that auto correct does to my Grandaughter Sydney's name. It is rather funny actually but not Shakspearean!!
1 person likes this
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
11 Jan 17
Autocorrect is like a mean teacher with a ruler to rap your knuckles and won't listen to anything you say in your defense.
1 person likes this
@valmnz (17099)
• New Zealand
11 Jan 17
My tablet refuses to let me correctly type the name of the city I live in! It also thinks it knows better.
1 person likes this
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
12 Jan 17
And how many times do you forget to correct the auto-correct? That's what really gets to me. I know it's going to do it, but I keep forgetting to correct it back to the right word, the one it rejects.
@Beatburn (4287)
• Philippines
6 Jan 17
Either thou is popular than you or Shakespeare is making a comeback.
1 person likes this
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
11 Jan 17
He has never left.
@marlina (154166)
• Canada
11 Jan 17
I may have come into possession of Shakespear'es cell phone.
1 person likes this
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
11 Jan 17
Oohh, call his friends and pretend to be him. Let me know what they say.
@Tampa_girl7 (48956)
• United States
11 Jan 17
My iPad loves to autocorrect for me
@Morleyhunt (21737)
• Canada
6 Jan 17
Some very interesting texts and messages are created by auto correct. For some reason today my iPad wants to exclude the letter e. I must be very careful.
1 person likes this
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
6 Jan 17
You need e. E is xtrmly important for splling a lot of words. I don't think I could writ without it.
@JudyEv (325758)
• Rockingham, Australia
7 Jan 17
It does seem strange that thou is even in the list. Who uses it nowadays? No-one I know.
1 person likes this
• Preston, England
11 Jan 17
Gadzooks, Spellcheck - get thee to a cattery ... correction - Nunnery