Then and than

[MissHoskins]

I've just seen a poster state that it's better to smoke outside then in.
On another thread, it's better that pirates were portrayed as gay then rapists.
Makes no sense.

No, it doesn't make any sense. I expect it's an autocorrect error, at least I hope so.

I'd have thought autocorrect- seems unlikely to be a typo as e and a aren't that close on the keyboard. I just tried typing 'thn' , it corrected to 'then'. But I just tried something with a bit more context 'I'd rather it left it alone thn that' and it corrected correctly to 'than'

Makes no sense

Except, @MissHoskins, you apparently understood that they meant "than", and so you were clearly able to make a great deal of sense out of it.

It's like me starting a sentence with "Except" or you omitting the subject from "It makes no sense" - they may not be grammatically correct in formal English, but like the occasional spelling error or wrong vocabulary choice, they are surely tolerable in the informal context of a chat forum.

@DadDadDad
Thanks for the explanation, it's very good of you to give up your valuable time to explain to me.

You are very welcome!

@MissHoskins

?

it's better that pirates were portrayed as gay then rapists

What thread is this on?

It's more a question of typing what you hear without thinking of the meaning- like could of.

Someone posted on a FB page they were playing Trivial Per Suit.

@iklboo that made me laugh out loud! Which I need tbh as some neighbours are having a. Party and it's made me incredibly angry!!!!

Excuse the random full stop and capital letter on Party!

That's ok @onlyreadingneverposting8 -it's more official if it's a Party

Someone on our local FB page is looking for 'graffle for my boarders'.

I hope someone commented "there's no such thing as a graffle (oh)"

@DadDadDad

Is a graffle like the Gruffle?

Graffle - you know, those tiny bits of rock you put in your garden boarders