Wednesday, July 26, 2017

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Post1572. Wednesday July 26 

Friday Fictioneers



I hated mobiles when they first appeared. I preferred proper phones with cables. But being a trendy dude I bought one.

I got my first text.

hi how u doin. c-in r tomoz. 4t u mite cum 2. b gd. luv mary’ What was Mary saying?  

I replied. Apparently, my mobile had 'predictive text' which could read my mind and write what it thought I was saying.

‘Hell mare. Watch was yolk massage a boot. I did nut undertake it. Plaice cool me. Key.'

Oh dear!

I called her on a proper phone. She was seeing Rosey the next night and thought I might like to go too. So I did!





Thanks to Rochelle for hosting Friday Fictioneers and to J Hardy Carroll for the photo



70 comments:

  1. Dear Keith,

    Love your title. Texting hasn't done the English language any favors on either side of the pond, has it? Good one.

    Shalom,

    Rochelle

    https://rochellewisoff.com/2017/07/26/28-july-2017/

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  2. Well deciphered. 'Text speak' - I detest it!

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    1. It took me far longer to come up with text speak than to say in plain English! Cheers Iain

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    2. Hopefully phones will be able to read or minds soon! Cheers Dale

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  3. I don't like it either, especially the 'u'.No loling matter, for sure.
    Great humor and creativity !

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  4. Even phonetically it only makes sense with the right accent! Nice one!

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    1. That hadn't occured to me, but you are absolutely right!

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    2. So true! When I went back to it, I read it in a British (my attempt anyway) accent and I could understand it! LOL... too funny...

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    3. I'd love to have heard that Dale!

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  5. Love this post! Thanks so much for linking up and texting has a language all it's own for sure!

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    1. Hey, I speak two languages now - well, nearly! Cheers Teresa.

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  6. I hate "leet speak" or rather "l337 speak."

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    1. Sounds like you are an expert! Thanks for stopping by.

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  7. LOL... an apt title. In the beginning I detested this texting language but slowly am drawn into the whirlpool.
    http://ideasolsi65.blogspot.in/2017/07/the-sunday-call.html

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    1. Oh dear! Will I be able to understand your posts in the future? Thanks Kalpana

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  8. lol I've frequently felt bewildered when I've read some texts. Good story, Keith!

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  9. Thank you! As someone who passionately hates txt tlk (I blogged about that nearly ten years back) this story was right up my alley. Great job, Keith. Loved the title. Cheers, Varad

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    1. We are clearly batting for the same team! Thanks once again Varad

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  10. Don't you love auto-correct? My son texted that he found the Levi set at a local store. Took me several seconds to figure out that he meant Lego set. Some messages make no sense at all.

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    1. Haha...sorry, lol! I have seen a few beauties too! Thanks Denise.

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  11. Ha ha! I finally worked out what Mary was saying (I still text in proper words, I'm not dawn wiv da kidz).

    Back in the days of predictive text rather than full autocorrect (which can also cause some hilarious mishaps of course), I always switched it off for exactly this reason.

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    1. I do too! My piece was a complete and utter lie! Cheers Alistair.

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  12. Oh, brother! I have been SO confused over this commandeering of the English language thanks to phone texts. Of course, the good news is, it has gotten people to be able to write briefly.

    Thanks, Keith! A really good one!

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  13. This was hilarious! I hate my autocorrect and predictive text on my phone, it has embarrassed me numerous times.

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    1. My spelling on phones is so bad people assume I'm using predictive text when I'm not! Thanks Fatima.

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  14. Great fun! Super story, Keith! I have to confess that I think the best predictive text nowadays works really well. Sometimes I experiment to see just how few key strokes I need to complete a whole text. It's no good at flash fiction yet, thank goodness!

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    1. Mine just gives me spelling suggestions now. I like that! Cheers Penny

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  15. Heehee! In my day - not THAT long ago - LOL meant Lots of Love. Try typing SMIRNOFF into your predictive text!

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    1. I remember that too! I'm going to try your suggestion on my old phone and see what happens!

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  16. That nails it, Keith. And don't get me started on speech-to-text. Great story!

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  17. Hahaha! Love this story. Really enjoyed it!

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  18. Fun story, Keith. I get similar texts from my children and respond with, "Huh?" This is a post everyone can relate to.

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    1. I know that word - and that feeling! Thanks Russell

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  19. Enjoyed your story. What tragedies might this bring on in the hands of the wrong person ---namely me. ;) But I'm a hold-out. I text in correct English only, and even at that auto-correct has torpedoed my message a few times.

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    1. I do too. I don't care if it's old fashioned, at least it can be understood.

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  20. Oh, that's funny! I HATE texting!

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  21. well, it's like learning how to skate. all it takes is practice and you'll get the hang of it before you know it. :)

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    1. I'll take your word for that! Cheers plaridel!

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  22. Yes indeed: Proper Phone + Proper Vocabulary = A civilized society. Good take on this one.

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  23. Lovely take. I completely identify with this.

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  24. Lovely story. I'm glad it included a translation of Mary's text because I was at a loss. Talking to people is so much easier.

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  25. This was hilarious. Predictive text has caused me more than one headache... got rid of that... then I have the dual problem of texting in English or French and have to change my "keyboard" each time because the phone thinks I don't know what I'm texting.
    And I think it is a sign of age but I use full words... none of this "c u l8tr" stuff...

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    1. The problem of multi-lingual texting never occured to me! I'm 100% with you as far as full words go. Thx!

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  26. I love it. This is so funny, although I switched off predictive text on my mobile after I sent a really embarrassing text, the contents of which I've erased from my mind for the sake of sanity D:

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  27. Lol!! It took me a while to catch up on the mobile lingo. But i hate it. I want proper English. Loved this take.

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  28. Keith, this made me laugh and you capture the wild world of predictive text so well. My husband has it on his iphone and he hates it.
    Hope you have a great week.
    Best wishes,
    Rowena

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  29. Ive been doing Friday Fictioneers long enough now that the most frequent predictive text that pops up on my phone is in response to the words "good" and "great": "take on the prompt."

    One dreadful day I hit the wrong button somehow and every prompt and auto-correct was in French. I'd des for describe; desolée & despoir would pop up. Then one happy day a week later I discovered the right button and changed it back to English again. :)

    Christine G --- aka "Swallow"

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  30. A great post and a creative title, Keith :)

    kittysverses.wordpress.com

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