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eduction | 17 days ago

I confess I find the growing prevalence of these sorts of errors on HN dispiriting. Programming requires precision in code; I’d argue software engineering requires precision in language, because it involves communicating effectively with people.

In any single instance I don’t get very exercised - we tend to be able to infer what someone means. But the sheer volume of these malapropisms tells me people are losing their grip on our primary form of communication.

Proper dictionaries should be bundled free with smartphones. Apple even has some sort of license as you can pull up definitions via context menus. But a standalone dictionary app you must obtain on your own. (I have but most people will not.)

discuss

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anthonj|17 days ago

Jesus christ man, you are pulling out a lot from a single typo, eh? English is just not my first language (and not the last either). Having an accent or the occasional misspelling on some forum has never impacted me professionally.

eduction|3 days ago

Slow down. If you read my comment it’s about an aggregate trend, not you or even your comment, which I don’t mention. Plenty of native speakers are slipping. (Fwiw the quality of your writing is pretty native feeling, so good work)