# Why do I do this this? \[Type the same words twice\]
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-do-this-this-type-the-same-words-twice/676819
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [December 20, 2013, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-do-this-this-type-the-same-words-twice/676819 "2013-12-20T15:11:31Z")
**Posts on this page:** 14
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Dostoyevsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dostoyevsky)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2013, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-do-this-this-type-the-same-words-twice/676819/1 "2013-12-20T15:11:31Z")
I tend to type the same words twice twice, even though I try really hard not to. I have no idea why I do this. It’s my besetting sin as a writer, and it frustrates the hell out of me. I’m especially prone to typing “the the,” instead of just “the.” Does anyone else struggle with not typing the same word twice? Is a tendency to type the same words twice indicative of anything?
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### Author:  [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2013, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-do-this-this-type-the-same-words-twice/676819/2 "2013-12-20T15:49:07Z")
> [@Dostoyevsky](#):
>
> I’m especially prone to typing “the the,”
Band name!
Sorry :o
The good news is modern spellcheckers are alert to this common mistake, and readily correct it.
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2013, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-do-this-this-type-the-same-words-twice/676819/3 "2013-12-20T16:05:17Z")
Moved to IMHO, and thread title edited to clarify question.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
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### Author:  [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2013, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-do-this-this-type-the-same-words-twice/676819/4 "2013-12-20T16:30:56Z")
No, but I have a bad habit of omitting key words in a sentence. Words that if went unnoticed, would leave the sentence nonsensical.
I also have some kind of weird quirk with homophones. Like using the word residents when I should have used residence. Or there instead of their.
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### Author:  [@jharvey963](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jharvey963)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2013, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-do-this-this-type-the-same-words-twice/676819/5 "2013-12-20T20:56:11Z")
I often find myself typing the same word twice. “The the” is very common. I also find repeated words when I have stopped typing to think about what I am going to say.
As to whether it is indicative of anything… age? 🙂
J.
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### Author:  [@jharvey963](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jharvey963)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2013, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-do-this-this-type-the-same-words-twice/676819/6 "2013-12-20T20:59:47Z")
> [@Shakes](#):
>
> I also have some kind of weird quirk with homophones. Like using the word residents when I should have used residence. Or there instead of their.
My spouse, who is a non-native English speaker, has a similar quirk. Recently, “sleepers” were written on a Christmas list when “slippers” were desired. Of course, “sleepers” was the way my spouse mispronounced slippers.
J.
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### Author:  [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2013, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-do-this-this-type-the-same-words-twice/676819/7 "2013-12-20T21:09:12Z")
> [@Dostoyevsky](#):
>
> I tend to type the same words twice twice, even though I try really hard not to. I have no idea why I do this.
> [@jharvey963](#):
>
> I often find myself typing the same word twice. “The the” is very common. I also find repeated words when I have stopped typing to think about what I am going to say.
I am similarly afflicted, and rarely notice it as I am typing. When checking my work, more often than not I will see an ‘in in’, ‘the the’, or ‘to to’.
Frustrating doesn’t begin to describe it
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### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2013, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-do-this-this-type-the-same-words-twice/676819/8 "2013-12-20T21:11:23Z")
It happens with me, when I’m thinking a word or two ahead of my typing. At some point I type the word I’m thinking of, ahead of time.
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### Author:  [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2013, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-do-this-this-type-the-same-words-twice/676819/9 "2013-12-22T09:53:35Z")
I think there’s a tendency to type the same word twice when one of them was meant to be another short word. For example, typing “the the” when you meant “of the” or “in the” or similar. Thus, simply removing the extra word doesn’t suffice to put the sentence as it was meant to be.
So. Do spell checkers tend to silently delete a doubled word, or simply warn you so you can think about it? Of course, there really are some cases where a word correctly appears twice, especially “that”.
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### Author:  [@randompattern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randompattern)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2013, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-do-this-this-type-the-same-words-twice/676819/10 "2013-12-22T13:44:24Z")
I do it too. I think it’s from thinking to fast or too far ahead. (not that I have a super fast brain I just type slowly)
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### Author:  [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2013, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-do-this-this-type-the-same-words-twice/676819/11 "2013-12-22T17:30:57Z")
> [@Shakes](#):
>
> … I have a bad habit of omitting key words in a sentence. Words that if went unnoticed, would leave the sentence nonsensical.
>
> I also have some kind of weird quirk with homophones. Like using the word residents when I should have used residence. Or there instead of their.
I do both of these. Many of my SDMB posts would be gibberish if I didn’t proofread. My wrong homophones may not even be close: ‘values’ for ‘vowels’ etc. I’ve noticed many Dopers making similar mistakes.
I’m guessing, but perhaps this doesn’t happen with handwriting? Is it just a thing with typing?
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### Author:  [@Enola\_Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Gay)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2013, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-do-this-this-type-the-same-words-twice/676819/12 "2013-12-22T18:28:04Z")
I do this too. I don’t know why, but it is only with typing, not hand writing.
Same with homophones. I have a pet peeve when people use (e.g.) there instead of they’re, but I make this mistake when typing sometimes.
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### Author:  [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2013, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-do-this-this-type-the-same-words-twice/676819/13 "2013-12-22T20:21:35Z")
Do those things a lot also.
Short answer:
Bothers me more when I do it than when others do it. I have poor proof reading ability. It looked correct the first time, my mind becomes blind to the mistake until after I post it. Then it jumps up & slaps me in the face.
Long answer:
Slow fingers, stopping to think, etc… (Does ending a sentence with etc. require an extra period? )
Another problem is I hear what I am typing as a conservation so I make assumptions about the reader being able to see me talk and is seeing my nonverbal communication also.
Poster X has an opinion that has been expressed many times in many context. I have been reading what they say for years.
When they type something that is really out of character, I try to think of what they are really trying to say, not jump down their throat as is often the reaction found on SDMB
It seems to me that seeing the misspellings, the typos, the bad punctuation, allows me to see that they were just skimming or speed reading, typing fast with no proof reading & the time stamp usually confirms this.
I hate when I make those mistakes myself but it does not my ability to read & enjoy a posting.
To see this in a published book, will be much more intrusive occurrence in my enjoyment of said book.
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### Author:  [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)
#### Post date: [December 28, 2013, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-do-this-this-type-the-same-words-twice/676819/14 "2013-12-28T15:35:05Z")
I’ve almost never done that. I just leave words out, and I know why I do that. I’m thinking faster than I type, and don’t notice that I haven’t typed one of the words. The only times I have repeated a word is when I’m correcting something. I’ll forget that a word was already there.
Anyways, based on my experience, I would guess that you are doing the opposite. You forget you’ve already typed a word, since it was just so automatic.