# What is your most common keyboarding error? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 30, 2020, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-most-common-keyboarding-error/924322 "2020-10-30T14:39:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-most-common-keyboarding-error/924322/41 "2020-10-31T14:11:06Z")
I mostly use a tablet. The most common error, and one I make a lot - is typing “fir” when I’m going for “for”. And autocorrect never corrects it but always tries to add this little tree emoji.🌲. It’s maddening ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-most-common-keyboarding-error/924322/42 "2020-10-31T17:19:47Z")
Out of curiosity, anyone use the Dvorak layout? I tried it for a while, and once I got used to it, I think that it could have improved my speed, but it had the disadvantage that I couldn’t use anyone else’s computer, and no one could use mine, so I ended up stopping using that layout. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-most-common-keyboarding-error/924322/43 "2020-10-31T17:34:02Z")
jI was wildly curious what types of mistakes I think I make versus the mistakes I actually make when typing, so I decided to type this response exactly like a normal typing exercise. Incidentally, I seem to be making far fewer mistakes than I normally think I do. I think I’m more likely to make mistakes when I’m on a fast typing spree, such as when nI’m writing fiction and need to get things on to the page as fast as I can. I think it also depends on how fast yyou have yoru keyboard set to repeat letters. It seems like some of my mistames are double letters because I accidentally hit the same button twice. Here I am typing as fast as I can jhumanly type without losing my mind but I have to think really fasgt about whagt I want to say next. Usually when I’m writing I have a muych gettger eidea what I want to say. jJwsus that’s terrible. Good thinig I ham fast with the delete key. There you have it. I started at about 70wpm and then went up to about 90wpm. The faster I type, the more mistakes I make. Please, I’ll take any suggestions to improve my accuracy. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-most-common-keyboarding-error/924322/44 "2020-10-31T17:38:57Z")
That stupid, stupid F1 “help” key in Windows. The “rename file” key is F2, which I use literally hundreds of times a day at work, and while I am free to disable the F1 key on my own machines, of course I’m not allowed to do that to my work computer. ---
**Author:** ![Powers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Powers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Powers)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-most-common-keyboarding-error/924322/45 "2020-10-31T17:42:46Z")
I have trouble typing the word “power” without adding an “s” on the end. Powers &8^] ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-most-common-keyboarding-error/924322/46 "2020-10-31T17:48:53Z")
On the iPad, just about everything. I don’t know what it is about the iPad, but I can’t get theough a paragraph without making a bunch of mistakes. A common one is triggering ‘m’ when trying to hit the spacebar, Or just triggering keys adjacent to the one I wanted. I think it might be because I learned to touch type with my fingers just barely above the keys. On the iPad, trying to type like that triggers all kinds of wrong stuff. Every time I post on my iPad I have to go back and usually correct several typos. And correcting them on an iPad is also painful. Text selection is awful. For example, I had to correct four typos in the above paragraphs. Maddening. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-most-common-keyboarding-error/924322/47 "2020-10-31T17:50:25Z")
“e” for “r.” Fast hunt-and-peck. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-most-common-keyboarding-error/924322/48 "2020-10-31T19:42:38Z")
I still use Dvorak on occasion. It depends on what I’m doing and where. At home, just for fun, it’s Dvorak. At work and doing serious stuff at home, I’m still touch-typing the way I was taught on a standard QWERTY layout. The above is for English. When I’m typing in Korean, I usually use the most popular layout, the 두벌식 (Dubeolsik). I’m learning the 서벌식 (Seobeolsik) now because it’s supposedly more ergonomic and I want to help my wife learn that one, especially the no-shift implementation, as she has CTS. Oddly enough, I still remember (I guess from muscle-memory) how to type 한글 on the old Smith-Coronoa layout which I taught myself back in 1978. For any language I’m typing, my most common error is hitting the _+/=_ key (as it appears on the standard QWERTY layout) when I’m intending to hit the _\_/-_ key. Luckily that’s not that often but it does tend to perturb me when I do. Here are a couple of interesting links which I think relate to this thread: - [Free online typing tutor](https://www.speedtypingonline.com/typing-tutor) - [Another free online typing tutor](https://www.typing.com/) - [Free online keyboards for many languages](https://www.branah.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-most-common-keyboarding-error/924322/49 "2020-10-31T22:17:15Z")
I have donated a lot of blook at the blook bank. ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-most-common-keyboarding-error/924322/50 "2020-10-31T23:55:01Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > I also type a lot of tehs and adns. Another common one is the premature spacebar (using my thumbs in addition to my 2 fingers. So “not here” comes out as “no there”. These are two of my biggest issues as well. In not a particularly fast typist but my single biggest issue seems to be that I hold the shift key down for a keystroke too long. So if my thesis is titled “Trumpism: Misplaced Filiopietistic Nostalgia and the Rise of Modern Nazism” the rough draft will read “TRumpism: MIsplaced FIliopietistic Nostalgia and the RIse of MOdern NAzism.” Its a pain in the ass and I have no clue why my hands do it, but they do. ---
**Author:** ![Marion\_Wormer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@Marion\_Wormer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marion_Wormer)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2020, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-most-common-keyboarding-error/924322/51 "2020-11-01T00:00:19Z")
I have ‘lazy pinky’. My hands are the size of a 10 year old’s and they hit the wrong key because they have no ‘reach’ ---
**Author:** ![CardboardBoxx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardboardboxx/32/7079_2.png) [@CardboardBoxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CardboardBoxx)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2020, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-most-common-keyboarding-error/924322/52 "2020-11-01T00:15:26Z")
If I’m editing something at the end of a sentence I’ll generally add another full stop. This has become more noticeable to me here because Discourse turns 2 full stops into an ellipse. For some reason I keep missing Rs, I have no idea why that letter in particular. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2020, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-most-common-keyboarding-error/924322/53 "2020-11-01T12:20:15Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > I have donated a lot of blook at the blook bank. Considering where K & D are on the keyboard that’s a very “interesting” goof. But a fun one. “Blook” sounds like a pretty good word for the general ooze & goo we’re all made of. Slice someone open big-time and what comes out? Blook. > [@CardboardBoxx](#): > > If I’m editing something at the end of a sentence I’ll generally add another full stop. This has become more noticeable to me here because Discourse turns 2 full stops into an ellipse. This. I’m forever tacking another clause onto the end of a sentence during my proofing before posting phase.\* And can’t prevent myself from adding that second “.” even though I know there’s one already there. Gaaah! * * * \* I even did it on this very sentence which originally ended with the word "sentence". ---
**Author:** ![CardboardBoxx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardboardboxx/32/7079_2.png) [@CardboardBoxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CardboardBoxx)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2020, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-most-common-keyboarding-error/924322/54 "2020-11-01T16:35:07Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Considering where K & D are on the keyboard that’s a very “interesting” goof. Presumably he never gives blook at blook drives or campaigns against blooksports, but the b\_\_k b\_\_k combination of blook bank gets him. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2020, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-most-common-keyboarding-error/924322/55 "2020-11-01T16:37:19Z")
I do the cross-hand thing sometimes, when something distracts me, like a fly buzzing 'round my head. Get a momentary distraction, and suddenly I’m typing “derbw;ard” instead of “keyboard”. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2020, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-most-common-keyboarding-error/924322/56 "2020-11-01T16:47:03Z")
“teh” is fairly frequent for me, as is weird spacing with words that end with “r”. I often type the space before the r and it winds up starting the next word. For some weird reason, though, the word I have the most trouble typing is “customer”. It almost always comes out as “cusomter”. I should probably add that to my dictionaries. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2020, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-most-common-keyboarding-error/924322/57 "2020-11-01T16:47:45Z")
> [@CardboardBoxx](#): > > Presumably he never gives blook at blook drives or campaigns against blooksports, but the b\_\_k b\_\_k combination of blook bank gets him. I think that’s it. It’s a psychological linkage, more than a fat-fingered failure. I also type “physical ftiness” a lot; that’s on the fingers. ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2020, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-most-common-keyboarding-error/924322/58 "2020-11-01T19:15:29Z")
> [@glowacks](#): > > For some reason that I can’t really fathom, I have a tendency to get ‘c’ and ‘s’ confused in uncommon words. Yesterday I typed “sommon” instead of “common”. No clue why, and obviously not in uncommon words; I think that aspect of it I may be wrong about. But I definitely do it, and have no clue why. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2020, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-most-common-keyboarding-error/924322/59 "2020-11-01T19:18:48Z")
“lime” instead of “like” Every damn time. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2020, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-most-common-keyboarding-error/924322/60 "2020-11-02T00:01:50Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Also have you noticed how “not” and “now” are essentially opposites of each other? It’s not a finger-slip, it’s some unconscious mistyping, but it’s still a common one. Yeah, this is a dangerous one, because autocorrect won’t catch that you are using the wrong word, and it can **completely** change the meaning of the sentence. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-most-common-keyboarding-error/924322.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-most-common-keyboarding-error/924322.md?page=4)