# Typos that take on a life of their own **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 4, 2003, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typos-that-take-on-a-life-of-their-own/166461 "2003-04-04T14:48:52Z")\ **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:** [April 4, 2003, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typos-that-take-on-a-life-of-their-own/166461/1 "2003-04-04T14:48:52Z")
I have mistyped “disturbed” as “distrubed” and “confused” as “confussed” so many times that the incorrect versions have started looking correct to me. I’ve even started pronouncing them that way on occasion. I must say that I find this turn of events particularly distrubing, and I’m sure it confusses the heck out of my friends, but what can I do? Am I alone in my affliction? 😉 Barry ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2003, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typos-that-take-on-a-life-of-their-own/166461/2 "2003-04-04T16:03:27Z")
Oh, god no. One of my friends typoed Yoru so often that a legend, nay, myth soon sprang up, telling of the mighty Yoru and his wife, Yuo… Much to his shame, of course. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2003, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typos-that-take-on-a-life-of-their-own/166461/3 "2003-04-04T16:19:55Z")
Well, there is **Og** , of course 🙂 A long long time ago on an SDMB Message Board far far away (AOL), a poster named **Roshnee** infamously typed that she was “insluted”, and “insluted” was referenced nearly as often as “Hi Opal”. I notice that **Roshnee** does not post any more. Unsure of the causal connection. Oh, does “Gotcha ya” count? ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2003, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typos-that-take-on-a-life-of-their-own/166461/4 "2003-04-04T16:22:15Z")
In my house, the following have gained status as real words: becasue - because teh - the nad - and choclate - chocolate amy - may greta - great diea - idea I call it typolexia. ---
**Author:** ![roadrunner70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19b73/32.png) [@roadrunner70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roadrunner70)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2003, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typos-that-take-on-a-life-of-their-own/166461/5 "2003-04-04T16:24:05Z")
On a now defunct site I used to frequent, computer was once spelt “copmuter”…been spelling it that way ever since. ---
**Author:** ![Loneraven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c0e974/32.png) [@Loneraven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loneraven)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2003, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typos-that-take-on-a-life-of-their-own/166461/6 "2003-04-04T16:52:15Z")
Slightly off-topic, but I remember a friend trying to type up a NaNoWriMo novel, and trying to avoid making it slash, as that was all she wrote as a general thing. Anyway, the phrase “Sleeping in the nude” became “Sleeping in the dude” - promptly declared the most Freudian typo of all time. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2003, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typos-that-take-on-a-life-of-their-own/166461/7 "2003-04-04T16:56:39Z")
The most famous long-lived typo is “filk”, which has actually become a word in its own right. ---
**Author:** ![Marconi\_Schmeese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ea666f/32.png) [@Marconi\_Schmeese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marconi_Schmeese)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2003, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typos-that-take-on-a-life-of-their-own/166461/8 "2003-04-04T16:58:32Z")
The best example (IMHO) here on the boards was the infamous “Banhattan” instead of Manhattan.😃 ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2003, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typos-that-take-on-a-life-of-their-own/166461/9 "2003-04-04T17:28:46Z")
I often type the word “fresh” wrong. Somehow an _a_ sneaks in there it comes out “freash.” I often type “out” when I mean “put” and vice versa. The spell checker does no good to catch this one. I have the same problem with “going” and “doing.” ---
**Author:** ![j.c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@j.c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j.c)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2003, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typos-that-take-on-a-life-of-their-own/166461/10 "2003-04-04T17:44:18Z")
ewe our onto some thing, hear? ---
**Author:** ![Spiff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiff/32/9852_2.png) [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2003, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typos-that-take-on-a-life-of-their-own/166461/11 "2003-04-04T17:52:21Z")
Were you motivated to start this thread because of recent **cow-orker** sightings? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2003, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typos-that-take-on-a-life-of-their-own/166461/12 "2003-04-04T23:42:03Z")
Back when people still used Usenet newsgroups instead of the Straight Dope Message Board 😉 , one rather famous typo that made its way around was: **newsfroup** Personally, though, my favorite was the double-typo of “back!” on IRC as “nacl!”. Salt of the Earth, indeed! ---
**Author:** ![Nimsay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5e9695/32.png) [@Nimsay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nimsay)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typos-that-take-on-a-life-of-their-own/166461/13 "2003-04-05T04:28:21Z")
Because I pronounce it this way, I have a tendency to spell veteran like “vetran”. ---
**Author:** ![pokey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ebca7d/32.png) [@pokey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pokey)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typos-that-take-on-a-life-of-their-own/166461/14 "2003-04-05T05:31:42Z")
A few weeks ago someone in my company sent out an email about a virus that was just another dumb hoax. So she sent out another one that said, “boy I fell stupid!” It’s become a bit of a catchphrase for me. I say opps a lot too. My boss constantly types “opps” instead of “oops” when he makes other typos in MSN. I think it’s just that he doesn’t know how to spell it. I invariably type “opps I said opps!” back and he NEVER knows what I’m talking about. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typos-that-take-on-a-life-of-their-own/166461/15 "2003-04-05T05:37:46Z")
The character Homsar owes his entire existence to a typo. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typos-that-take-on-a-life-of-their-own/166461/16 "2003-04-05T05:40:48Z")
I ahve no idea ehat yopu mena byt typos. Teh conpcet is totlaly aline ot me. I leaned ot typoe form teh besat. ---
**Author:** ![Gopher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gopher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gopher)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typos-that-take-on-a-life-of-their-own/166461/17 "2003-04-05T05:53:04Z")
From [www.bash.org](http://www.bash.org) which is a collection of IRC quotes: > [@](#): > > \ YOU ALL SUCK DICK > \ er. > \ hi. > \ A common typo. > \ the keys are like right next to each other. If anyone plays online games then they’ll know owned --\> ownt --\> pwnt ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typos-that-take-on-a-life-of-their-own/166461/18 "2003-04-05T07:42:11Z")
“Gotcha ya.” There was recently “[DAMNIT it](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&postid=3222281#post3222281),” as well, but it didn’t take. And the pre-mentioned “og [smash]” and “cow-orkers.” I have my own personal typo. Creating a post goes something like this: Type out post. Go back and change all the semicolons ; to apostrophes ’ . Submit. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typos-that-take-on-a-life-of-their-own/166461/19 "2003-04-05T14:08:29Z")
My little city of Englewood gets typed Engelwood on letters, envelopes, and even on TV tag lines. ---
**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typos-that-take-on-a-life-of-their-own/166461/20 "2003-04-05T14:20:13Z")
Tyops? Gotta to love 'em. Once worked for a print advertising company (making the flyers for Albertsons, Kmart and the Now Defunct Monkey Wards and such) and some of them made history. My personal favorites were “Stretch Cocks - One size fits all” (Socks) which went out on proof to the customer and a good laugh was had by all. Then there was “Chicken Farts 69 cents a pound” (Parts). My own personal tyop that I liked the best was a menu containing “Crap Salad” which is interesting because the B is nowhere near the P. Must have been a Freudian Tyop since I am not a seafood fan. Also, many typesetters have a hard time getting the “L” in Public, which I heard cost a proffreeder his job at some major newspaper, but this may be an urban legend among typesetters of old. It is difficult to get a quarter in the “Pubic Phone.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typos-that-take-on-a-life-of-their-own/166461.md?page=2)