Automattic / Automattic/harper

Should flag "incidence" used when "incident" is intended.

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#3,114 0 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub
enhancement harper-core linting
Dominant language
Rust
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Description

I just heard a YouTuber **in which** is pretty well known for weird English grammar say "incidences" at least three times in the one video when he was actually talking about "incidents".

This is apparently so common that there's websites discussing the confusion:
- https://www.grammarly.com/commonly-confused-words/incidences-vs-incidents
- https://www.trinka.ai/blog/incident-vs-incidence/
- https://www.grammarbook.com/homonyms/incidences-incidents.asp
- https://www.reddit.com/r/ENGLISH/comments/y9g42w/when_to_use_incidents_versus_incidences/
- https://bestcompari.com/incidents-or-incidences/
- https://www.michiganpublic.org/arts-culture/2020-06-28/twts-incidents-and-incidence-lead-to-instant-confusion
- https://brians.wsu.edu/2016/05/24/incidence-incidents-instances/
- https://ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=incidence

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

The issue names no files, entry points, or tests. Start by locating the existing confused-word rules and their tests, then compare how a proposed “incidence” versus “incident” warning would fit. Done means the intended misuse is flagged without incorrectly rejecting valid uses of “incidence”.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
rust
Domain
tooling
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
48/100

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