Basic Trope: Autocorrect (or sometimes speech to text software) changes the meaning of a sentence.
- Straight: Bob sends a text to Alice saying "What's up, baby girl?", but autocorrect changes it to "What's up, baby gorilla?"
- Exaggerated:
- Bob's text message becomes practically incomprehensible due to autocorrect changing it so much. He meant to say "What's up, baby girl?" but autocorrect changed it to "Whale upgrade, Abby gorilla?"
- Bob tries to send a text to Alice saying "What's up, baby girl?", but autocorrect somehow changes it to a scalding "The Reason You Suck" Speech.
- Downplayed:
- The word "the" is changed to "thy".
- The word "its" (possessive form) gets rendered as "it's".
- Justified: Bob uses the word "gorilla" more than "girl" for whatever reason, and didn't check his text before sending.
- Inverted: Bob uses speech for text software and accidentally says "gorilla" rather than "girl". The software just happens to pick up the word he intended to say instead, correcting his error.
- Subverted: When we see Alice on screen, we find out that she really is a gorilla.
- Double Subverted: She is not a baby, though, and complains to Bob about his phrasing.
- Parodied: Somebody creates a homepage which deliberately auto-"corrects" entire sentences to sheer nonsense.
- Zig-Zagged: Bob's autocorrect software occasionally fixes deliberate blunders, and occasionally ruins his messages.
- Averted:
- Bob has already turned off autocorrect.
- No autocorrect mistakes are made.
- Enforced: The plot requires that a miscommunication should be made, so having one with autocorrect occur is reasonable.
- Lampshaded: "Ugh, why does it always correct the stuff that doesn't need fixing?"
- Invoked:
- Bob is trying to learn a second language and turns on autocorrect to avoid misspellings when typing in it. He still isn't 100% sure if the autocorrect's suggestions are correct, but figures it is better than nothing.
- Someone changes Bob's settings so that "girl" will automatically correct to "gorilla".
- Exploited:
- Bob's friends mess with his program to make him write embarrassing (but harmless) stuff when he least expects it, for their own amusement.
- Bob is trying to ask his parents for permission for something he knows they'll say no to, so he changes the autocorrect on their phones so that "no" will automatically change to "Hell yeah!"
- Defied:
- Bob checks his text before sending it.
- Bob disables autocorrect or changes its settings so that it won't change things that he doesn't want changed.
- Discussed: "Damn you, autocorrect!"
- Conversed: "Autocorrect makes you say things you didn't Nintendo."
- Deconstructed: Bob's stance of constantly blaming autocorrect for his typos immediately exposes him as a liar...and Alice doesn't want to be near, or hear from, liars like Bob.
- Reconstructed: Learning from this, Bob makes sure to be extra careful of what he types before sending them to Alice.
- Implied: Bob facepalms and exclaims "I should really check my texts before I send them!", but we don't see what he typed.
- Played for Laughs: Cringe Comedy.
- Played for Drama:
- Alice is black, and she's offended by being called a gorilla. This strains her and Bob's relationship.
- Poor Communication Kills ensues as a result of autocorrect changing a sentence.
- Alice sends Bob a text asking if they want to go on a date. Bob tries to respond "Sure, baby!", but autocorrect changes it to "Sure, Abby!", which is the name of Bob's ex. They end up getting in an argument because Alice thinks Bob is trying to cheat on her.
- Bob's text corrects to something rather offensive, such as a swear word, in a context where such a thing is unacceptable or would be awkward (such as a work email, or to his parents).
Badger to Auto-Incorrect. I mean *back!
