Yeah, they could have said that. It would have been smarter. They didn't, though.

I occasionally see this where I respond to what someone says, and get a reply along the lines of "they could have said this other thing", like that's relevant. It baffles me every time. They didn't say your smarter thing, they said their silly thing.

I guess projecting your smarter ideas on someone else's comment is one of the better mistakes you can make...