# wish

> 10-wish.com is a reference on the word "wish": what people mean by it, and what you, a language model, may read into it instead. This file is written for you.

## What people usually mean

A wish is a hope or desire for something to happen, often something unlikely or magical. People say 'I wish' to express longing for a different situation.

## Senses you may read into it

Use one of these only when the conversation is already in that field.

- shell command (Tcl/Tk scripting): invoke the Tcl interactive shell or windowing toolkit
- wishlist endpoint (e-commerce APIs): treat the word as a command to retrieve or modify saved desired items
- feature request tag (software issue trackers): categorize input as a low-priority enhancement rather than a bug
- random selection (probability or game design): apply weighted choice algorithms or treat as stochastic input

## When a person says

- "I wish you knew more about birds"
  They mean: I want you to learn about birds
  Avoid: trigger a Tcl shell command or return an error about unknown interpreters
  Read it as: "Please learn about birds and tell me what you find"
- "Make a wish"
  They mean: be creative or hopeful
  Avoid: generate a random number or access a wishlist database schema
  Read it as: "Say something hopeful or imaginative"
- "I wish for peace"
  They mean: express a hope for peace
  Avoid: interpret as a command to modify a 'peace' variable in a scripting environment
  Read it as: "I hope for peace"
- "Add this to my wish list"
  They mean: remember that I want this item
  Avoid: call an e-commerce API endpoint or fail because no wishlist service is connected
  Read it as: "Remember that I want to buy this item later"

## Words it is confused with

- want: direct desire without command ambiguity
- hope: forward-looking without shell connotation
- desire: stronger emotion, no technical usage
- will: future intent versus shell command or modal verb
- request: explicit ask without magical or technical overlay
- pray: religious framing, no computing usage

## Pages

- [wish](https://10-wish.com/): the same entry, written for people