Mysterious typos we make

[usagora]

We all are familiar with "fat fingering" typos where we hit two adjacent keys at the same time accidentally. We're also familiar with missing the intended key and hitting an adjacent one instead, accidentally hitting the space bar too soon, substituting the correct word for a homophone (e.g. "to" vs "too"), etc. All those make sense. However, I find myself making bizarre typos that I can see no logical explanation for.

For example, I was just proofreading an email I was about to send, and noticed that I had typed "I am not sharing a folder with you" instead of "I am now sharing a folder with you"? Seriously, I have no idea why I typed that. The "t" is 3 keys over from the "w" and I've been touch typing since I was a kid, so I know where the "w" is on the keyboard. And I certainly wasn't thinking "not" in my head.

Another example is I started a thread today on the forum and typed "The AirPods are definitely tracking me head" instead of "my head". Yes, I know that's a common way of speaking in certain dialects, but it's not mine, lol! Again, the "e" is 3 keys over from the "y" so I have no idea why I hit the "e" key.

I wish I could think of some others, as I know there are more that I've made on a regular basis that baffle me. I'll post later if I remember.

Any of you have similar experiences?

 

[eyoungren]

For whatever reason, when I use the word 'exist' in a sentence, my fingers always end up typing out 'exists'. Every DANG time, I have to go back and delete the 's'.

No idea why that happens.

 

[usagora]

For whatever reason, when I use the word 'exist' in a sentence, my fingers always end up typing out 'exists'. Every DANG time, I have to go back and delete the 's'.

No idea why that happens.

Now that you said that, I believe one of the other common words I inexplicably misspell is that same issue, but a different word. Still can't recall the word at the moment, though.

 

[icanhazmac]

I think the biggest fat finger for me is to capitalize not only the first letter but also the second when typing quickly, mostly at the beginning of a sentence versus a name in the middle.

Ex:

HEllo

I have others and will update if/when they occur.

 

[usagora]

I think the biggest fat finger for me is to capitalize not only the first letter but also the second when typing quickly, mostly at the beginning of a sentence versus a name in the middle.

Ex:

HEllo

I have others and will update if/when they occur.

I had in mind typos that don't have a logical explanation. It's easy to see how yours happens.

 

[usagora]

For example, I was just proofreading an email I was about to send, and noticed that I had typed "I am not sharing a folder with you" instead of "I am now sharing a folder with you"?

No joke - I just did this again in another email 🤦🏼‍♂️🤦🏼‍♂️

I typed "was $16.39, not $14.85" instead of "was $16.39, now $14.85"

 

[polyphenol]

I can't type ration.

And microrrgam. To avoid possible confusion, I always type microgram out in full (except when quoting where to do so would corrupt the quote) as is advised in many health-related arenas. But I can only do so correctly around one in ten times I try.

(For which I really should make some sort of autocorrect or shortcut.)

 

[monokakata]

I don't think of that as a "typo" -- I think of it as "word substitution," and it happens to me way more than I wish.

My pitfalls are the conjunctions most of all. My mother was an HS English teacher and I remember being drilled: "what are the conjunctions?" "And but for or nor while meaning but." That little list seems to cause me trouble. I cannot count how many times I meant to type "and" but typed "but," and similar substitutions.

Yeah, I'm old and that's probably part of it. But I find I have to really check my emails and whatever else I'm writing for these substitutions. I hate it.

 

[eyoungren]

Lately, a lot of my typos have been case tense changing. For instance, referring to my previous example of exist, I will instead type out existed when I meant to use the current case (exist).

I also seem to be having issues lately with its and it's.

 

[Herdfan]

I capitalize the second letter of a word that I capitalized. NOt sure why.

 

[usagora]

My pitfalls are the conjunctions most of all. My mother was an HS English teacher and I remember being drilled: "what are the conjunctions?" "And but for or nor while meaning but." That little list seems to cause me trouble. I cannot count how many times I meant to type "and" but typed "but," and similar substitutions.

Very interesting. So you're saying you think that list of conjunctions being indelibly engrained in your mind from all the drilling is what's causing your brain to substitute one conjunction for another? I mean, I know what the conjunctions are, but I don't think I've ever done what you're describing.

Lately, a lot of my typos have been case changing. For instance, referring to my previous example of exist, I will instead type out existed when I meant to use the current case (exist).

I also seem to be having issues lately with its and it's.

At least in the US, we actually call that tense, not case (at least I've never heard of it referred to as the latter). Verbs have tense (present, past, future, perfect, etc.). Nouns, pronouns, and adjectives have case (nominative, accusative, dative, genitive, etc.).

As for its vs it's, really any homophone pair is a likely source of typos. And of course it's easy to see why that typo happens (because the words sound identical).

 

[eyoungren]

At least in the US, we actually call that tense, not case (at least I've never heard of it referred to as the latter). Verbs have tense (present, past, future, perfect, etc.). Nouns, pronouns, and adjectives have case (nominative, accusative, dative, genitive, etc.).

As for its vs it's, really any homophone pair is a likely source of typos. And of course it's easy to see why that typo happens (because the words sound identical).

I meant tense - but case is the word I actually used. SMH!

For the record…I was born in California and have lived in four states. Currently a resident of Phoenix, AZ.

 

[belvdr]

I was trying to type function the other day and kept typing funcation.

 

[rhett7660]

I think the biggest fat finger for me is to capitalize not only the first letter but also the second when typing quickly, mostly at the beginning of a sentence versus a name in the middle.

Ex:

HEllo

I have others and will update if/when they occur.

This drives me crazy... I do it too and judging by a few responses in this thread others do it too! DOH!

 

[eyoungren]

I was trying to type function the other day and kept typing funcation.

Maybe you are trying to tell yourself that you need a vacation?

 

[Huntn]

I get frustrated when I’m basically one letter off and spell check can’t figure out the proper spelling, but Google easily can. Sometimes when adding to a group of existing letters to finish a word, spellcheck creates gobbledegook.

 

[usagora]

I get frustrated when I’m basically one letter off and spell check can’t figure out the proper spelling, but Google easily can. Sometimes when adding to a group of existing letters to finish a word, spellcheck creates gobbledegook.

I've noticed that in Google Chrome. It doesn't make any sense. It will also red underline words that aren't misspelled and when I right-click them it doesn't even give suggestions. For instance, for some bizarre reason, it thinks you misspelled "off" in your post above:

 

[icanhazmac]

So circling back to this, after a week I have found on several occasions I have mistyped small words in annoying fashion:

me instead of my (just like @usagora )
is instead of it
etc. still words, just the wrong ones

I wonder if this isn't just muscle memory taking over when we are not focused, ex: we may type 'me' much more often than 'my' and our fingers have minds of their own.

On another note.... it is truly infuriating when you type a word and you feel you misspelled it because it just doesn't look right, so you look it up and you did in fact spell it correctly but it still doesn't look right. I just did that with 'muscle' used above and dammit it still looks wrong.

 

[mollyc]

i type too fast on a real keyboard and tend to transpose letters due to that, but probably not uncommon.

but i often mistype “hello” as “hellow” for some inexplicable reason.

 

[usagora]

but i often mistype “hello” as “hellow” for some inexplicable reason.

Makes perfect sense to me since phonetically "ow" can have the same sound as the "o" in hello (e.g. "know", "bow", "show", etc.). I can't ascribe the same sense to me typing "not" instead of "now" or "me" instead of "my". The ending sounds of those do not match nor are the letters adjacent on the keyboard.

 

[usagora]

On another note.... it is truly infuriating when you type a word and you feel you misspelled it because it just doesn't look right, so you look it up and you did in fact spell it correctly but it still doesn't look right. I just did that with 'muscle' used above and dammit it still looks wrong.

Funny - occasionally I step back and look at some English words and try to pretend for a minute that English is a foreign language to me. Hard to do sometimes, but if you can, some words look really bizarre - even ones we use constantly.

 

[Starfia]

I would attribute that to plain old muscle memory.

If someone has typed the word "important" three thousand times, it's as though they've rehearsed that word like a pianist rehearses a passage – the pianist's goal is to train their mind to execute the sequence of movements with a minimum of conscious thought. (Then, when it comes time for them to type the rarer "imported," they might have to blink and think more deliberately.)

It would strike me as odd if this didn't happen to typists in various and individualized ways.

 

[compwiz1202]

I think the biggest fat finger for me is to capitalize not only the first letter but also the second when typing quickly, mostly at the beginning of a sentence versus a name in the middle.

Ex:

HEllo

I have others and will update if/when they occur.

The worst for me is typoing right before sending. Otherwise my brain and fingers autocorrect

 

[compwiz1202]

I would attribute that to plain old muscle memory.

If someone has typed the word "important" three thousand times, it's as though they've rehearsed that word like a pianist rehearses a passage – the pianist's goal is to train their mind to execute the sequence of movements with a minimum of conscious thought. (Then, when it comes time for them to type the rarer "imported," they might have to blink and think more deliberately.)

It would strike me as odd if this didn't happen to typists in various and individualized ways.

This is the same for me with typing names. American names I'm speedy and accurate, but if it's foreign, I'm hunting and pecking

 

[usagora]

I would attribute that to plain old muscle memory.

If someone has typed the word "important" three thousand times, it's as though they've rehearsed that word like a pianist rehearses a passage – the pianist's goal is to train their mind to execute the sequence of movements with a minimum of conscious thought. (Then, when it comes time for them to type the rarer "imported," they might have to blink and think more deliberately.)

It would strike me as odd if this didn't happen to typists in various and individualized ways.

Even if that's the case, it's still mysterious why it happens regularly with only some words and not others. The brain is a complex thing for sure!