Typographical error - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.

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Typographical error
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A typographical error (often shortened to typo), also called misprint,

is a mistake made in the typing process (such as a spelling mistake)[2] of
printed material. Historically, this referred to mistakes in manual
type-setting (typography). The term includes errors due to mechanical
failure or slips of the hand or finger,[3] but excludes errors of ignorance,
such as spelling errors, or the flip-flopping of words such as "then" and
"than". Before the arrival of printing, the "copyist's mistake" or "scribal A typographical omission of the word
error" was the equivalent for manuscripts. Most typos involve simple "not" in the sentence "Thou shalt not
duplication, omission, transposition, or substitution of a small number of commit adultery." This 1631 printing
characters. of the Bible has become known as the
Wicked Bible.
Fat finger, or "fat-finger syndrome", a slang term, refers to an
unwanted secondary action when typing. When one's finger is bigger
than the touch zone, there can be inaccuracy in the fine motor
movements and accidents occur. This is common with touchscreens. One
may hit two adjacent keys on the keyboard in a single keystroke. An
example is buckled instead of bucked, due to the L key being next to the
K key on many keyboards.[4]

The "Judas" Bible in St Mary's

Church, Totnes, Devon, UK. This is a
Contents copy of the second folio edition of the
Authorized Version, printed by
1 "Intentional" typos Robert Barker, Printer to King James
1.1 Typosquatting I, in 1613, and given to the church for
1.2 Typos in online auctions the use of the Mayor of Totnes. This
2 Marking typos edition is known as the "Judas" Bible
3 Atomic typos because in Matthew 26:36 "Judas"
4 See also appears instead of "Jesus". In this
5 References copy the mistake (in red circle) is
6 External links corrected with a slip of paper pasted
over the misprint.[1]

"Intentional" typos
Certain typos, or kinds of typos, have achieved widespread notoriety and are occasionally used deliberately for
humorous purposes. For instance, the British newspaper The Guardian is sometimes referred to as The Grauniad
due to its reputation for frequent typesetting errors in the era before computer typesetting.[5] This usage began as
a running joke in the satirical magazine Private Eye.[6] The magazine continues to refer to The Guardian by this
name to this day.

Typos are common on the internet in chatrooms, Usenet, and the World Wide Web, and somesuch as "teh",
"pwned", and "zomg"have become in-jokes among Internet groups and subcultures. Pr0n is not a typo but an
example of obfuscation.[7]

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Typosquatting

Typosquatting is a form of cybersquatting which relies on typographical errors made by users of the Internet.[8]
Typically, the cybersquatter will register a plausible typo of a well-known website address in hopes of receiving
traffic when Internet users mistype that address into a web browser. Deliberately introducing typos into a web
page, or into its metadata, can also draw unwitting visitors when they enter these typos in Internet search
engines.

Typos in online auctions

Since the emergence and popularization of online auction sites such as eBay, misspelled auction searches have
quickly become lucrative for people searching for deals.[9] The concept on which these searches are based is
that, if an individual posts an auction and misspells its description and/or title, regular searches will not find this
auction. However, a search which includes misspelled alterations of the original search term in such a way as to
create misspellings, transpositions, omissions, double strikes, and wrong key errors would find most misspelled
auctions. The resulting effect is that there are far fewer bids than there would be under normal circumstances
allowing for the searcher to obtain the item for less. A series of third-party web sites have sprung up allowing
people to find these items.[10]

Marking typos
When using a typewriter without correction tape, typos are commonly
overstruck with another character such as a slash. This saves the typist
the trouble of retyping the entire page to eliminate the error, but as
evidence of the typo remains, it is not aesthetically pleasing.

In computer forums, sometimes ^H (a visual representation of the ASCII

backspace character) was used to "erase" intentional typos: Be nice to
this fool^H^H^H^Hgentleman, he's visiting from corporate HQ.[11]

In instant messaging, users often send messages in haste and only Correction fluid is used to correct
afterwards notice the typo. It is common practice to correct the typo by typographical errors after the
sending a subsequent message where an asterisk precedes the correct document is printed.
word.[12]

In formal prose, it is sometimes necessary to accurately quote text containing typos. In such cases, the author
will write "[sic]" to indicate that an error was in the original quoted source rather than in the transcription.[13]

Atomic typos
Another kind of typoinformally called an "atomic typo"is a typo that happens to result in a correctly spelled
word that is different from the intended one, and since it is spelled correctly, the spellchecker cannot find the
mistake. Examples include "unclear" instead of "nuclear", "sedan" instead of "Sudan" (leading to a diplomatic
incident in 2005 between Sudan and the United States regarding a nuclear test code-named Sedan), "Untied
States" instead of "United States", and "the" instead of "they". The term was coined in 2002 by The Palm Beach
Post editor C. F. Hanif.[14]

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See also
Clerical error
Comparison of web browsers Native spell checkers are indicated in the table "Browser features".
Fat-finger trade
Scrivener's error
Transcription error
Typosquatting

References
1. According to a note in St Mary's Church, Totnes, Devon, UK.
2. "Typo - Definition". Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 2012-01-03.
3. "Wordnet definition". Wordnet. Princeton University. Retrieved 2007-11-12.
4. Keyboard layout#QWERTY
5. Taylor, Ros (2000-09-12). "Internet know-how: Spelling". Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved 2007-11-12.
6. Lyall, Sarah (1998-02-16). "Confession as Strength At a British Newspaper". The New York Times. Retrieved
2007-11-12.
7. Marsden, Rhodri (2006-10-18). "What do these strange web words mean?". The Independent. Retrieved 22 December
2016.
8. Sullivan, Bob (2000-09-23). " 'Typosquatters' turn flubs into cash". ZDNet. Archived from the original on 2007-10-24.
Retrieved 2007-11-12.
9. KING5 Staff (2004-07-01). "How finding mistakes can net great deals on eBay". King5. KING-TV. Archived from
the original on 2007-12-20. Retrieved 2007-11-12.
10. Douglas Quenqua (2008-11-23). "Help for eBay Shoppers Who Can't Spell". The New York Times.
11. Chapter 5. Hacker Writing Style (http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/writing-style.html), The Jargon File, version
4.4.7
12. Magnan, Sally Sieloff (2008). Mediating discourse online. AILA Applied Linguistics Series. John Benjamins
Publishing Company. p. 260. ISBN 978-90-272-0519-3.
13. Wilson, Kenneth G. (1993). "sic (adv.)". The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. Columbia University
Press. Archived from the original on 11 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-12.
14. "Spell checkers developing 'atomic typo' capabilities" (http://www.chinapost.com.tw/commentary/the-china-
post/special-to-the-china-post/2012/09/30/356026/Spell-checkers.htm), The China Post (2012-09-30). Retrieved
2012-11-15.

Wikimedia Commons has

External links media related to
Typographic errors.
"Spell checkers developing 'atomic typo' capabilities"
(http://www.chinapost.com.tw/commentary/the-china-post/special-to-the-china-post/2012/09/30/356026
/Spell-checkers.htm/) - OpEd in the China Post, Taiwan, September 30, 2012.
"BookErrata.com (http://www.bookerrata.com/)

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