# How fast are your hands?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-are-your-hands/37724
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [October 20, 2000, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-are-your-hands/37724 "2000-10-20T23:12:00Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Demo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demo)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2000, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-are-your-hands/37724/21 "2000-10-21T03:20:07Z")
51 WPM with 93% accuracy. I’ll have to try it when I’m not drunk…
😉
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### Author:  [@Shadowfox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shadowfox)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2000, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-are-your-hands/37724/22 "2000-10-21T03:20:51Z")
Wow! You guys are fast. I type medical reports for a living and my average on that test was only 67 wpm. Of course, I’m not used to typing words as I am reading them. I’m used to listening to dictations and typing out what I hear. When I listen and type what I hear, I can get up to 80-85 wpm. Still, 247 wpm is effin’ fast!
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### Author:  [@Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtar)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2000, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-are-your-hands/37724/23 "2000-10-21T03:27:54Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Enderw23 \*
> \*\*I have you all beat. 247 WPM over the course of two minutes. My arms are tired as hell though. \*\*
That’s almost the second-most incredible thing I’ve ever heard! You swear it’s true–but forgive me if I have trouble believing. 😃
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### Author:  [@mega\_the\_roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mega_the_roo)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2000, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-are-your-hands/37724/24 "2000-10-21T03:47:48Z")
Okay, I’ve beaten my old record of 102 with 109… but oh, I’m not done yet.
As soon as my arms wake up, I’m going to try again.
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### Author:  [@Homer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homer)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2000, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-are-your-hands/37724/25 "2000-10-21T04:41:32Z")
Well, I just took the test. I was holding still at 90wpm, but then I missed some punctuation… er, alot of punctuation. I ended up with a _mere_ 84 wpm, but only a 91% accuracy. Oh fuckin’ well.
I knew a guy in HS who claimed 250.
–Tim
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### Author:  [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2000, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-are-your-hands/37724/26 "2000-10-21T05:09:46Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Ashtar \*
> \*\*
>
> > [@](#):
> >
> > \*Originally posted by Enderw23 \*
> > \*\*I have you all beat. 247 WPM over the course of two minutes. My arms are tired as hell though. \*\*
>
> That’s almost the second-most incredible thing I’ve ever heard! You swear it’s true–but forgive me if I have trouble believing. 😃 \*\*
I’m insulted! It’s absolutely, 100% the truth!
[sub](please don’t ask me about my accuracy, please don’t ask me about my accuracy).[/sub]
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### Author:  [@mega\_the\_roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mega_the_roo)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2000, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-are-your-hands/37724/27 "2000-10-21T05:53:26Z")
> [@](#):
>
> (please don’t ask me about my accuracy, please don’t ask me about my accuracy).
AHA! I knew it! I was sitting here holding down the k tryin to see what kind of wpm I’d get, and began to suspect, I did.
Shame on you.
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### Author:  [@Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtar)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2000, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-are-your-hands/37724/28 "2000-10-21T07:39:07Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by mega the roo \*
> \*\*
>
> > [@](#):
> >
> > (please don’t ask me about my accuracy, please don’t ask me about my accuracy).
>
> AHA! I knew it! I was sitting here holding down the k tryin to see what kind of wpm I’d get, and began to suspect, I did.
>
> Shame on you. \*\*
I was beginning to suspect the same thing. 😉
But you still had me fooled for a few seconds. Shame on you! 🙂
-Ashley
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### Author:  [@Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtar)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2000, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-are-your-hands/37724/29 "2000-10-21T07:41:21Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Democritus \*
> \*\*51 WPM with 93% accuracy. I’ll have to try it when I’m not drunk…
>
> 😉 \*\*
I don’t want you anywhere near me when -I- need to be hooked up to an IV. 🙂
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### Author:  [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2000, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-are-your-hands/37724/30 "2000-10-21T07:58:46Z")
I type 21 wpm according to those tests. 😃
I have made it a point all my adult life not to improve my typing or my handwriting to the point that any sane person would ask me to take minutes or do any other secretarial task. I do not wish to be a secretary or to work with food. I have talents and i promised my self that if it got to the point i need to earn money and my chosen career was closed to me, then rather do something i hate, i would rely on my other talents to earn money.
I prefer working with computers in a corporate setting, but women in corporate settings are often mistaken for secretaries. I was actually asked to take my turn replacing the receptionist during her break. I refused and the idiot reprted me to my boss. Fortunately, he backed me up and told her to “go pound sand.”
I do endeavor to improve the speed at which i can type out my own thoughts, but this skill seems to have little bleed over to the kind of skills that those tests measure.
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### Author:  [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2000, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-are-your-hands/37724/31 "2000-10-21T08:17:21Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Enderw23 \*
> \*\*I have you all beat. 247 WPM over the course of two minutes. My arms are tired as hell though. \*\*
Yeah…but that 2% accuracy rate sort of balances it out.
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### Author:  [@BornDodgy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BornDodgy)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2000, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-are-your-hands/37724/32 "2000-10-21T11:29:42Z")
no idea actually - at about as fast as I talk…
… when I talk slowly…
b dodgy
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### Author:  [@BornDodgy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BornDodgy)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2000, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-are-your-hands/37724/33 "2000-10-21T11:36:31Z")
The test saied 78 words per minute
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### Author:  [@BornDodgy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BornDodgy)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2000, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-are-your-hands/37724/34 "2000-10-21T11:39:57Z")
That test is crap… it seems to be more about how fast your comp is at the moment -
now I got 86 words per minute with 96 % accuracy
So now I ll have to compare to everybody here to see if I am good.
Yours sincerely boring you at any time of the day
b dodgy
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### Author:  [@Stupendous\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stupendous_man)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2000, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-are-your-hands/37724/35 "2000-10-21T11:40:10Z")
I can type the word “I” 30times/sec.
That’s 1800 WPM, 100% Accuracy.
😉
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### Author:  [@vandal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vandal)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2000, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-are-your-hands/37724/36 "2000-10-21T12:29:23Z")
Alright, I dug out my old DOS disk labeled _Type Tutor_, and ran it off of the disk. After taking a couple tests, the results said 83WPM, with 90% accuracy. That’s kinda surprising, considering I don’t really adhere to the standard ASDF-JKL; pattern. I have my own makeshift ASDV-NJIL method, but sometimes, even that changes. But, hey, it gets the job done.
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### Author:  [@JimmyNipples](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimmyNipples)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2000, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-are-your-hands/37724/37 "2000-10-21T12:33:40Z")
Can’t help you out here people…I type with a combonation of my feet, nose and left ear.
Sometimes when I get excited while posting, I get bruises all over my face…I stay out of the pit cuz I’ll probably loose too much blood.
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### Author:  [@Ad\_Noctum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ad_Noctum)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2000, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-are-your-hands/37724/38 "2000-10-21T16:08:24Z")
heh, I have fast hands 🙂
but seriously, I caught a falling glass and didn’t spill anything. my reflexes are just really fast. but oh well. gotta go, some creppy guy that looks like fidel castro came into my place of business…
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### Author:  [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2000, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-are-your-hands/37724/39 "2000-10-21T16:56:47Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by astro \*
> \*\*
>
> > [@](#):
> >
> > \*Originally posted by Enderw23 \*
> > \*\*I have you all beat. 247 WPM over the course of two minutes. My arms are tired as hell though. \*\*
>
> Yeah…but that 2% accuracy rate sort of balances it out.
> \*\*
Shows what you know. I was down to 1%. So there. Kinda refutes the whole infinite monkeys theory, doesn’t it?
Fine, if you must know, it was 65 WPM at 95% accuracy. I think I’m going to go party! 🆒
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### Author:  [@Baglady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baglady)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2000, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-are-your-hands/37724/40 "2000-10-21T17:27:47Z")
**Silo** lamented: _“II took the test twice and both times I got 38 wpm with 0% errors. BTW, **most of the time, I look at the keyboard while I type, never got rid of the habit**.”_
Silo, _ **that** _ is your problem. I learned to type in a high school summer school class, and had plateaued at 35wpm without making much progress for a while. The teacher finally caught me during a time test _peeking periodically at my keyboard_, at which point she said, “As long as you are dependent on looking at the keyboard, even briefly, you will _never_ learn how to type faster than that.”
That was an enlightening moment for me. For the next few sessions, My speed went way, _way_ down… to about 20wpm or so. But I promised myself I wouldn’t peek. Within a week I finally weaned myself off of the habit, and I got up to 55wpm! That was many years ago, and I’ve gotten faster since then. 🙂
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