Feb 22, 2011

Word of the day: Typo

A typo is a typographical error, which means a mistake in typed or typeset material. Often, a typo is a misspelling, made by reversing two letters, or hitting the wrong key when typing. Typo is a noun, and we generally use it with the verb make.
I make about 50,000 or so typos a day, depending on how much I have to write. Okay, maybe that's a slightly high estimate, but if you've ever received an email or SMS from me, you know it's pretty close to accurate. I'm not a very good typist, and although I like to think that I catch most of my mistakes, it's not true. Nonetheless, I keep trying!
Typos are common in blogs, newspapers, on signs, menus, and anyplace where text appears. Of course, soemtimes the mistakes are not typos, meaning that the writer didn't know that the word was incorrect. This happens a lot with "its". People put "it's" when it should be "its", and they don't recognize the mistake. An example of a real typo would be one that I read this morning: "curmbling" instead of "crumbling".
What about you? Do you make a lot of typos? Do you catch them before others have a chance to see them? Have you seen any memorable typos on the internet, on sign or in print?

P.S. There is at least one typo in this post. Can you find it?

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