Computer - no match for human mind

Office Stuff aka Supplies

Office Stuff, Office Staff; Office Manage, Office Manager

Small difference in spelling, big difference in meaning. Two employees in my previous office had to complete forms. In the "Position" section, one wrote "Office Stuff". The other wrote "Office Manage". Both of them were advanced learners of English. Today, they are fluent. No one in the office (not even the foreign supervisor), noticed the errors in spelling. I did.

When I pointed it out, we all had a really good laugh. The "Office Stuff" had become part of the furniture and supplies in the office, since he didn't seem to think he was a "Staff", or human being working there. The other one wasn't as funny, but still, he wrote down a function, rather than a position.

Another friend recently wrote that he was going into the jungle to search for "staff". He was a learner of English and has now become a teacher. I told him I didn't think he was going to find "Staff" in the jungle. He got the drift. He was going to look for "stuff". He, too, had a laugh over his mistake.

In these cases mentioned, auto-correct had nothing to do with the errors. They were simply human oversight. While computers are a great asset to our working life, they cannot replace the human mind. After all, humans created computers, not the other way around.

My three friends have learned English well through hard work and much practice. I salute them! May we all follow their example and learn a new language today!

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