Autocorrect Leaves Internet in Hysterics: Baseball Game Cancelled Due to 'Baboon'
There are plenty of modern inventions that have improved our lives and helped us operate in an increasingly fast-paced and technical world.
Autocorrect is not one of those things.
Perhaps you’re one of the rare few who has been helped by autocorrect, but it’s more likely that you’ve felt the sabotaging effects of it milliseconds after hitting “send” or “post.”
With the things autocorrect does to some people, it’s not a stretch to wonder if it really is evil. Some word subs are downright atrocious.
But many times, they just give us a good laugh at the expense of the writer. ESPN’s Pedro Gomez experienced a bit of that this week while reporting on a baseball game in Arizona.
“@Rangers and @Dbacks delayed in downtown Phoenix because a baboon went through town and overloaded the grid, knocking some lights out,” he tweeted.
@Rangers and @Dbacks delayed in downtown Phoenix because a baboon went through town and overloaded the grid, knocking some lights out.
— Pedro Gomez (@pedrogomezESPN) July 31, 2018
Based on the text alone, you could probably conjure up some mental image of a Godzilla-like baboon swiping at street lights and causing destruction.
But if you know Arizona, and you know autocorrect, you can probably infer that he meant “haboob.” I mean, it’s close — it even shares most of the letters.
Instead of changing the word, Gomez left it and rolled with it, though he noticed the gaffe just minutes after posting the original sentence. Probably a wise idea, considering how much attention it was already getting.
Those crazy Arizona baboons…
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) July 31, 2018
What ensued was a merry series of jokes between Gomez and the Arizona Diamondbacks.
@dbacks should sign the baboon. Looked like he had a power arm.
— Pedro Gomez (@pedrogomezESPN) July 31, 2018
We’ll have to see if we have enough bananas in the budget.
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) July 31, 2018
It didn’t end there, either. Even the zoo ended up getting in on the joke, reassuring everyone that their baboons were present and accounted for.
Others posted gifs of chaotic baboons and King Kong. Despite the fact that the wording was incorrect, it’s not THAT much of a stretch: baboons can be downright wicked, too.
Meanwhile, autocorrect continues, making our daily lives more amusing and yet more perilous at the same time.
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