# Anybody else a dyslexic typer? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 18, 2003, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-a-dyslexic-typer/162255 "2003-03-18T13:31:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![godzillatemple](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/49beb7/32.png) [@godzillatemple](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/godzillatemple)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2003, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-a-dyslexic-typer/162255/1 "2003-03-18T13:31:50Z")
I write for a living and consider myself a good speller. However, when I’m typing there are certain words that I consistently misspell, in spite of the fact that I know how they are supposed to be spelled, and in each case the problem is caused by reversing cetain letters of each word. So, for instance, I invariably type “particu **al** r” instead of “particular” and “unfortu **an** tely” instead “unfortunately” (unless I consciously make an effort to get them correct). I’d think I was simply a bad typer, but as I said it only happens with a few select words. I’ve set up the “quick correct” option of my word processor to automatically fix these words when I type them, but it bugs me that I make the same mistakes over and over again in the first place. And it’s very frustrating when my brain tells my fingers to type one thing, but my fingers decide to type something else instead. Anybody have this problem, _i.e._, consistently reversing letters in certain words (and **only** those words) when typing them, even though you know how the words should be spelled? Any thoughts as to why this happens to me? Barry ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2003, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-a-dyslexic-typer/162255/2 "2003-03-18T13:44:46Z")
I am the is hard for me, comes out hte Thank God for preview! ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2003, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-a-dyslexic-typer/162255/3 "2003-03-18T14:10:00Z")
United is “untied”. Untied Airlines. Must’ve typed it a hundred times. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2003, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-a-dyslexic-typer/162255/4 "2003-03-18T16:33:47Z")
Dyslexics of the world, untie! Now is teh time to come togehter and support each otehr! Seriously… I get pretty dyslexic on the keyboard at times. Spell-check is firmly engaged in the “on” postion in Word and Outlook, yet sometimes I really get it confuzzled. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2003, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-a-dyslexic-typer/162255/5 "2003-03-18T17:24:19Z")
Back in the old DOS days I typed CPOY instead of COPY often enough that I finally made a batch file called CPOY to do my copying. ---
**Author:** ![Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ebca7d/32.png) [@Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Violet)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2003, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-a-dyslexic-typer/162255/6 "2003-03-18T17:29:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by godzillatemple \* > \*\* Any thoughts as to why this happens to me? \*\* Maybe it is caused by typing too fast. There are a few words that get jumbled on me, too. I often turn subject into sujbect. ---
**Author:** ![Archergal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Archergal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archergal)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2003, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-a-dyslexic-typer/162255/7 "2003-03-18T18:01:35Z")
Yup, me too. “Teh” for “the” is one of my most common. For me, it seems to happen more when I’m composing when I type, rather than when I’m touch-typing text that I’m looking at. I’ve never figured out why that is. ---
**Author:** ![rockle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/73ab20/32.png) [@rockle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rockle)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2003, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-a-dyslexic-typer/162255/8 "2003-03-18T19:46:14Z")
I was once a Diocesan spelling bee champion (went to Catholic school), and I freely admit that I cannot type. I can spell words out loud without thinking about it, but I cannot ever get them right in an e-mail. I seem to have the most trouble with words over 2 syllables, although I don’t entirely know why either. “Because” always comes out “ebcuase.” Also, words that end in “-ly” seem to end in “-yl” when I type them. When people are (rudely) looking over my shoulder and they see me spell something incorrectly, I usually tell them that my brain works faster than my fingers, so I can’t keep up with myownself. Or, “my spelling isn’t bad, it’s just typed that way.” ---
**Author:** ![susan\_foster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@susan\_foster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan_foster)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2003, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-a-dyslexic-typer/162255/9 "2003-03-18T20:38:12Z")
I spell my own name wrong - I’m actually thinking of using Sysab as my username on different forums, because half the time that’s what I type first. Susan ---
**Author:** ![ashtayk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@ashtayk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ashtayk)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2003, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-a-dyslexic-typer/162255/10 "2003-03-18T21:41:00Z")
wow! I have used that term for myself hundreds of times! Although I must say that I tend to disagree with the term dyslexic…when I see the word, I do recognize the problem…at worst it is a typing problem. Whereas dyslexics would not recognize their mistakes even upon re-reading. My biggest problem is the word “from” which I often misspell as “form” and it never gets caught by the spell checker ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2003, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-a-dyslexic-typer/162255/11 "2003-03-18T21:50:06Z")
By far, that is my most common typo. In the last sentence, I wrote “si” instead of “is”, and had to correct it. ---
**Author:** ![mmhkay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b38774/32.png) [@mmhkay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mmhkay)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2003, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-a-dyslexic-typer/162255/12 "2003-03-18T22:30:42Z")
I CONSTANTLY type in “jsut” for “just”…especially in IM’s…I don’t bother to correct it anymore, I figure it’s close enough. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-a-dyslexic-typer/162255/13 "2003-03-19T00:42:58Z")
Antoher (swear to god, that’s waht came out, let me just go ahead here) thing I do is break words wrong – sot hat words sometimes end up, well, wrong. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-a-dyslexic-typer/162255/14 "2003-03-19T00:54:40Z")
On. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-a-dyslexic-typer/162255/15 "2003-03-19T01:44:50Z")
“Wierd” for ‘weird’. All the time. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-a-dyslexic-typer/162255/16 "2003-03-19T03:25:45Z")
teh, waht, jsut I do all of these. Also wuold insted of would. what really bugs me is when my timing gets off and I place the space between words on letter too late, usally a T as in Whatt he hell. ---
**Author:** ![MikeG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikeg/32/4329_2.png) [@MikeG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeG)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-a-dyslexic-typer/162255/17 "2003-03-19T03:31:59Z")
Amen! as the inhabitants of #Straightdope can attest, I am a chronic dyslexic typist. In my case it comes from never having learned to type, coupled with trying to type faster. I am getting better but I really need to work on using the “home row” method to train myself as I currently use about five fingers to do almost all my typing. ---
**Author:** ![as\_u\_wish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6f9a4e/32.png) [@as\_u\_wish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/as_u_wish)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-a-dyslexic-typer/162255/18 "2003-03-19T12:47:22Z")
My nemesis is **environmental**. It comes out in a wide variety of spellings: envioronmental, envrionmental, envirionmental, etc. This is particularly annoying since I work for an EPA type agency and use the word environmental in almost every e-mail I write. **Also** also comes out aslo frequently. ---
**Author:** ![godzillatemple](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/49beb7/32.png) [@godzillatemple](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/godzillatemple)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-a-dyslexic-typer/162255/19 "2003-03-19T13:05:03Z")
Well, this _probably_ happens to me because I am not a touch-typer and tend to type faster than I should at times. What’s weird, however, is that while I am prone to making a myriad of random typos, they are usually just that – random … with the exception of those few words mentioned above that I **always** mistype unless I stop and think about them as I type. And I always mistype them in exactly the same way. Why is it that I can type “floccinaucinihilipilification” 10 times out of 10 without making a typo, and yet I always mispell unfortuantely and particualr? It’s not like I think the words are actually pronounced that way, and they certainly look wrong on the screen as soon as I type them. And yet, time after time after time, that’s what my fingers do when I try to type them. It’s like my fingers have gotten into a rut somehow. Barry ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-a-dyslexic-typer/162255/20 "2003-03-19T13:09:15Z")
I always seem to type “filed” for “field” Brian [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-a-dyslexic-typer/162255.md?page=2)