Australians are at each other’s throats after a thread pointing out everything they use is ‘wrong’ went viral – and some of it was deemed a bit ‘too personal’.
There are several gadgets and gizmos that are difficult to operate, and a few traffic rules and language norms that many cannot ignore.
Many have also pointed out that people are abusing the features of their emails or putting their phones on speaker in public.
“What’s something that almost everyone uses incorrectly?” asked an Australian on Reddit.
Australians are at each other’s throats after a thread pointing out everything they use ‘wrong’ went viral – and some of it was deemed a bit ‘too personal’
Technological accidents
Many Aussies were accused of using their phones incorrectly.
“I hate it when people put their phones on speaker in public,” one woman said. ‘Or when they listen to music on the train without headphones. It’s rude!’
Emails are also difficult for many to navigate, especially the ‘Reply All’ feature.
“Nobody knows how to use Reply All.” When your company sends out a mass email congratulating the new project manager, I don’t need to see 200 emails reflecting the same sentiment,” one woman said.
Language errors
One woman revealed that many misuse apostrophes for plurals.
“The number of times I’ve seen ‘pizzas’ or something like that kills me,” she said.
Another said that thousands are unaware of the correct turns of phrase.
For example, people may use ‘intensive purposes’ instead of ‘intentions and purposes’; ‘mute point’ instead of ‘moot point’; and ‘per say’ instead of ‘per se’.
The third problem was the misuse of the word ‘irony’.
“Nine times out of ten it’s a coincidence and not ironic,” one man explained.
“It’s not ironic that you were just talking about a song and now it’s on the radio. That’s a coincidence. It’s ironic when you say a station never plays Nirvana, and the next song is Nirvana, because that’s the opposite of what was spoken/expected.”
There are several gadgets and gizmos that are difficult to operate, and a few traffic rules and language norms that many cannot wrap their heads around
Public transport and driving behavior
“Nobody knows how to get on a train or into an elevator,” one woman said. ‘You let the passengers get out first before you go in!’
“Most people can’t use turn signals on cars,” wrote another. ‘It should serve as a warning, not as a courtesy. If it is used at all, it often seems like a casual afterthought.’
One agreed: “The indicators are supposed to come on before you start to slow down for the turn.”
Rating systems
Many agreed that five-star rating systems are abused and that people have “unreasonable expectations” about rates.
‘Three stars should be average and good, but everyone uses five stars or one star and very few people score on subtlety.’
One woman wrote: ‘Volunteer bias makes it more common for people with more extreme experiences to leave feedback or comments in public forums.’
Another also shared how interfaces like delivery apps penalize anything less than a perfect rating.