What's the most profound thing you did on accident? (lemm.ee)

submitted 3 months ago by shinigamiookamiryuu@lemm.ee to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

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By that, I mean what's thing have you done that's the most likely for someone to react with "how the heck could you have done that on accident?"

My example: I successfully cooked a prime rib on accident. I was in charge of the house while everyone else was gone, and there was a prime rib slow-cooking in the oven. The problem was that a mist was coming out of the vents, and I didn't know it was normal. So I'd see the mist, turn off the oven, call my parents and grandfather, they would assure me it's normal, I'd turn the oven back on, and the cycle would continue because I don't risk that stuff. When they finally came home, we had the prime ribs for dinner, and the way I caused it to cook actually improved it. They bit out of it and immediately said "this is the best prime rib I've ever had". Thus I accidentally cooked a good prime rib. That's a positive experience anyways.

What some might say is my most profound negative example: There was a Minecraft level that was a replica of the whole nation of Denmark, and while the features that would allow it to otherwise be destroyed were disabled, I accidentally found the glitch that led to its demise and eventual conquest by America.

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[-] xmunk@sh.itjust.works 39 points 3 months ago

When I was in university I took the department lead of CS and Math folks offline. For some absolutely idiotic reason my university didn't use DHCP but instead statically distributed IP addresses. In our hacking lab we were setting up a recovered desktop PC and to get it on the network I randomly chose an IP addy (this was IPv4) and it happened to be the address of the department head's computer.

Since I set this machine up at night when he wasn't on campus the network recognized my machine at that address and refused the department head's machine when he came in in the morning.

[-] themusicman@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago

That's what they get for not fixing the mac address. Massive security issue lol

[-] Diddlydee@feddit.uk 36 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

*by accident. On accident grates like nails on a blackboard. It's like saying by purpose.

[-] Mr_Blott@feddit.uk 9 points 3 months ago

Nails *by a blackboard

I did that for purpose

[-] MrScottyTay@sh.itjust.works 9 points 3 months ago

On accident definitely still works. I've heard it plenty times.

Turns out English grammar has always been an ever changing thing and different regions that speak it, speak it differently. All that matters is that the recipient understood you. You knowing the "correct" grammar means that they succeeded in that, so it's fine.

Do you read shakespeare and critique him on his grammar? Do you critique a Geordie on their grammar for speaking like everyone else they grew up around? English is a great language where there is no ONE way to speak or write it, so don't perpetuate that myth of proper grammar. That's just formal grammar, a product of the posh cunts that wanted to differentiate from the working class.

[-] Mr_Blott@feddit.uk 13 points 3 months ago

All that matters is that the recipient understood you.

Ah, the siren song of the ill-educated

[-] MrScottyTay@sh.itjust.works 4 points 3 months ago

If you ever took an English language class you'd learn that this is essentially 90% of the course with it focusing on various different dialects of English with MLE and pidgin usually being the main focuses to drive this point.

[-] Mr_Blott@feddit.uk 2 points 3 months ago

English [Simplified], perchance?

😂

[-] MrScottyTay@sh.itjust.works 2 points 3 months ago

British English

[-] adam_y@lemmy.world 7 points 3 months ago

Nope.

[-] MrScottyTay@sh.itjust.works 5 points 3 months ago

Clearly never took an English language class then.

[-] adam_y@lemmy.world 16 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

I did. Quite a few. Even taught a couple.

Here's the thing. You aren't entirely wrong.

Language can be studied and taught in two distinct ways.

There's prescriptive language, which teaches, "this is how language should be used".

And there's descriptive language, which teaches, "this is how language is actually used".

You are clearly leaning into the latter there, and that is fine. However, it does miss the point that for effective and articulate communication, rules are pretty useful.

Think of it like a programming language where you have to be very specific around syntax to get the exact thing you want.

Obviously, spoken and written English is far more forgiving. In fact we can say something really specific without saying it at all due to cultural and situational inference.

But prescriptive English forms a baseline for effective communication across what should be the broadest scope of a population.

Anyway, "on accident" is an Americanism. Thought to exist because of a conflation of "on purpose". If anything this conflation is an attempt to enforce a rule, to make language more prescriptive than allowing for the differences in "by" and "on".

Now, let's deal with that jibe in your comment that I never took English class.

Class.

You talk about the working class. Then you talk about prescriptive language and being all cool with that. Then you seek to belittle me by undermining my education. You say that the correct way of speaking is for posh people yet you criticise my understanding of language.

That would make you a hypocrite, wouldn't it?

[-] Mr_Blott@feddit.uk 5 points 3 months ago

You could've just replied "Wank", Adam

aLl tHaT mATTerS iS the reCiPieNT unDeRStAnDs yOu

😂

[-] adam_y@lemmy.world 5 points 3 months ago

Excellent use of language.

[-] MrScottyTay@sh.itjust.works 3 points 3 months ago

Fair points, I was judgemental in the way I said it all, I apologise. Seems like were mostly on the same page though and you do understand my point a lot and yeah I do think descriptive is way more important than prescriptive, even more so on a social media platform.

[-] deadbeef79000@lemmy.nz 6 points 3 months ago

The Lord's work.

[-] shinigamiookamiryuu@lemm.ee 6 points 3 months ago

As someone who grew up in the commonwealth, I can't remember ever hearing it as "by accident". I'll keep that in mind.

[-] th3dogcow@lemmy.world 17 points 3 months ago

As someone who also grew up in the commonwealth, I can’t remember ever hearing anyone say “on accident”. And it seems that “on accident” is grammatically wrong (not that we all have to speak with perfect grammar, but just pointing it out). I’m sure I’ll get downvoted for this but whatever. “On accident” also grated at me lol.

[-] shinigamiookamiryuu@lemm.ee 2 points 3 months ago

I upvoted you on/by accident. There.

[-] th3dogcow@lemmy.world 5 points 3 months ago

I just upvoted you by purpose. There. Sounds weird, right?

[-] WammKD 2 points 3 months ago

Honestly, all of the examples in your link sort of has me feeling it; it's certainly not any less consistent.

[-] WammKD 5 points 3 months ago

…but did it not happen via purpose?

[-] JoeKrogan@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago

👏👏👏

[-] Phen@lemmy.eco.br 25 points 3 months ago

Decades ago, in my early teens I was for some reason running towards a hammock, I think I was gonna try to jump over it. As I got close, my cousin who was standing by the tree that held the hammock pulled on it, causing the hammock itself to get higher. Somehow I ended up spinning around the hammock and standing still on the other side of it. To this day I still can't think how that was phisically possible.

[-] sangriaferret@sh.itjust.works 6 points 3 months ago

I did something similar on a bicycle about to crash into a car in a near head on collision. Right before impact, without thinking, I jumped off of the bike, ran across the hood of the car, did a full front flip and landed on my feet on the other side... While wearing flip-flops.

A guy on the curb asked me if I was alright and all I could think to say was, "did you see what I just did?!"

[-] rhythmisaprancer@moist.catsweat.com 22 points 3 months ago

When I was a teenager, I worked in a garden department of a store. We had plants to water. The pipes for the water had shutoffs in the ceiling in addition to the faucets themselves. I was working over the weekend and needed to water the plants, but no water would come out. The ceiling shutoffs were open, but I had heard there was a master shutoff just inside the store.

So I went in and was looking around on the walls, following pipes, and found this very large pipe with a shutoff on it. It had a tag hanging on it that said "emergency test" but my teen brain thought this meant it had been tested and passed inspection.

I turned it on and went outside, only to find an enormous amount of water coming out a different pipe, some kind of drain. Not what I wanted! When I reentered the store, the fire alarm was going off, but I thought nothing of it, shut the valve, and went about my business. By the time I got back outside, the fire department was there.

About 15 minutes later, fire folks in full gear were in my area poking around with the boss. I asked what happened, and they said for some reason there was a pressure drop in the sprinkler system and it triggered an automatic response 😬 I told them what I did, and they said they were too old for this, and then left. Not a great decision for me that day...

this post was submitted on 19 Jan 2025

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