rogue

The mistake 4,816 people made on Anzac Day.

As a nation, Anzac Day is an occasion which invites us to remember the innocent soldiers who lost their lives during the first major military battle fought by Australian and New Zealand forces in the First World War. It’s also an opportunity to commemorate all those Australians who have served and died in war in the decades since.

But Anzac Day has also a ‘lil bit become a day to go to the pub, drink excessively, and play two-up. Obviously, the day also requires significant documentation on social media, because if you didn’t post a #commemorative photo on Instagram, did you really remember the diggers at all?

A young girl watches war veterans march in Sydney. Image via Getty.

Unfortunately, however, there seems to be some confusion over one of the central tenets of Anzac Day.

You see, there are just three words you need to get right, just THREE, for the day, and your Instagram posts about it, to make sense: Lest we forget.

Lest we forget means be careful not to forget, or serves as a plea not to forget the past sacrifices of those who have come before us.

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But sometimes this can be confusing. How often do we really use the word 'lest'? Is it a word at all? For some people, 'lest we forget' sounds a lot like 'less we forget,' and surely they mean the same thing, right?

Image via Instagram.

Wrong.

The phrase 'less we forget' literally makes no sense, whichever way you look at it. May we forget less? The less we forget, the better? Who knows. It's not a phrase. For a reason. Because it doesn't make sense.

But approximately 4,816 people used the hashtag #lessweforget on Anzac Day, April 25.

Sometimes they were writing about their acai bowl, but also needed to acknowledge the importance of the date, and sometimes they had actually posted a photo of a war memorial, but failed to spell check/sense check their words.

Image via Instagram.

"It's been such an emotional 24hours seeing the trenches and hearing some of there (sic) stories. #lessweforget," wrote one person.

But one of my favourites came from someone who LITERALLY posted a photo with the words 'lest we forget' written clearly, and STILL used the wrong hashtag.

Image via Instagram.

Of course, there are several variations of the awkward typo. The hashtag #letsweforget was used 1,736 times, which definitely makes it seem like certain people are keen to forget about the sacrifices of the soldiers who have fought for our country.

Image via Instagram.

It's a confusing phrase - yes. But 'lest we forget' also sums up the entire point of Anzac Day. Which is why I find it so funny that for all the typos to make on April 25, for thousands of people, this was it.

But Anzac Day is also about commemorating what it means to be Australian, and I truly believe that the awkward typo, and the very pure intentions that come with it, are a fundamental part of the Aussie spirit.

#lessweforget