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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Spin Control

Say what? Voice-to-text loses in translation

A colleague got the following voice-to-text message last night. See if you can figure out what it ought to say.

"Good evening spoke an(?) State Representative is Marcus with Shelly and Tim arms be along with Senator Randy Bill legs(?) are currently holding a live telephone town hall meeting but it appears that you're unavailable. If you get this message before seven fifteen pm tonight and you'd like to purchase a paid. Just call toll free 18772298493 and enter the ID code 186461 prompted. For the record the phone number placing this call is 3607867604. Thank you and have a good night."

 Translation inside the blog.

The real message was: 

"Good evening. Spokane State Representatives Marcus Riccelli and Timm Ormbsby, along with Senator Andy Billig are currently holding a live telephone town hall meeting but it appears you're unavailable. If you get this message before 7:15 p.m. tonight and you'd like to participate, just call...

The rest is pretty good, except for the ID number, which should be listed as " enter ID code 18646 when prompted." 

We're guessing that the Robocall and the Voice-to-text machine don't play well together.



The Spokesman-Review's political team keeps a critical eye on local, state and national politics.