Typos-Errors

JohnC6

JohnC6

Messages
10,409
Name
John
Edit My Images
Yes
I looked at the thread on asking TP staff quote..''any daft questions' but this isn't a daft question so doesn't qualify .WBMT ? Not really, it baffles me all the time.

I'm sure this happens to everyone, or certainly a majority, that post. Why don't we see our errors ? I assume everyone casts an eye over their post before submitting it yet errors are overlooked...some glaring errors,at that. It's like that phenomena when you see a word but it's so closely associated with another that you actually see that other word. Usually something that's risqué .I've just edited my butterfly post ..not for the first time..because I saw that I wrote Read Admirals instead of Red Admirals. I was mentioning the huge increase in numbers of them arriving here from continental Europe. Why didn't I see that in the first place ? Why do we only see an error after we've posted,infact as the errors stand it's clear that ,.in many instances we don't even see them after posting. I know I make all sorts of errors when I post late at night, simply because I don't do late very well. I'm an early-riser but usually a 10.00pm turn-in. It's sometimes not just a single letter in a word but whole words or even a sentence that doesn't make sense. It's understandable if a wrong key is selected when it's next to the one you want but not when they're a few keys apart. To try and mitigate all this in a long post I'll take a short break, return, re-read it and then post it. Even so, still there can be errors.I find that intense concentration and ensuring what's been stated is accurate or a desire to give more information causes a tiredness and thus a blind spot. I'm going to get a coffee now and post this after I've scanned it :)

Ok...It looks ok.:). I've taken my experiences as an example but as I see many errors of one kind or another I assume many others have the same experience. So, the question is.. Why ?
 
The basic rules of good writing, as I was taught them 60 years ago...

Rule 1: Use short words where possible.​
Rule 2: Keep sentences as small as you can.​
Rule 3: Use punctuation to split up long sentences.​
Rule 4: When the subject changes, start a new paragraph.​
 
My take on it is: when I was a student teacher in 1978 on teaching practice, I would give each of my classes a weekly spelling test; however when my college tutor came to observe me teaching, he railed against the idea of spelling tests and marked me down because I was doing them. So, if children are not taught and obliged to pay attention to their spelling any more, whither grammar?
 
One of my most common typos is transposing the "u" in shutter one key to the right... So common (for me) that I now always double check it! The other, more annoying mis key is hitting "caps lock" instead of "A". Quite often don't pick that up for a line or so and have to delete/retype. I'm sure there's an easy way to change it but I don't know it. On desktop keyboards, I usually remove the caps lock button but that's not so easy on the laptop I normally use!
 
I am bad for typing a reply, quickly scanning over it then posting. I read it again after I've posted and for some reason, any typos then become glaring, I've seen me edit a post several times. It's a bad habit I have.

Something I've also started doing is recycling letters............ bear with me. If I've made a typo, I will reuse as many of the letters as possible:whistle:. I've only started doing this recently and I don't know why. Maybe it is the recycling mentality that is now becoming subconcious? Or might just be my OCD. :thinking:

I too often hit Caps Lock when going for Aa.

I'm yet to trip up on shutter, what a silly place to put the Ii on the keyboard, next to the U. :oops: :$:LOL:
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
The basic rules of good writing, as I was taught them 60 years ago...

Rule 1: Use short words where possible.​
Rule 2: Keep sentences as small as you can.​
Rule 3: Use punctuation to split up long sentences.​
Rule 4: When the subject changes, start a new paragraph.​
Click to expand...
Rule 5: Check your work before handing it in.

One I always remember and try to abide by. (y)
 
Dale. said:
I too often hit Caps Lock when going for Aa.
Click to expand...
I do that too, and it annoys me that I have typed a whole sentence with the CAP lock on, when I next look up.

JohnC6 said:
Ok...It looks ok.:). I've taken my experiences as an example but as I see many errors of one kind or another I assume many others have the same experience.
Click to expand...
It's called going word blind.
Yuo read waht you want to read, or think waht you have tpyed is correct;)
 
Last edited:
I'm a touch typist, and most of my errors stem from not having my fingers on the home keys - but I normally notice that very quickly.

I have Grammarly installed on my computer and it highlights both spelling and grammatical errors, with suggestions, I'm guessing that it's Grammarly doing this but can't be sure. It works very well generally but, on forums (only) it thinks that I'm suffering from being American and tries to miss-spell correct English spelling, which is annoying - it doesn't do that in Word:)
 
One of the more memorable typos I've seen was from a school teacher, email was sent to lots of people, email subject should have been "Year 8 county netball" Unfortunately she missed out the o
 
Last edited:
Garry Edwards said:
I have Grammarly installed on my computer and it highlights both spelling and grammatical errors,
Click to expand...
Me too, but I still manage to screw up occasionally :D
 
Dale. said:
I am bad for typing a reply, quickly scanning over it then posting. I read it again after I've posted and for some reason, any typos then become glaring, I've seen me edit a post several times. It's a bad habit I have.

Something I've also started doing is recycling letters............ bear with me. If I've made a typo, I will reuse as many of the letters as possible:whistle:. I've only started doing this recently and I don't know why. Maybe it is the recycling mentality that is now becoming subconcious? Or might just be my OCD. :thinking:

I too often hit Caps Lock when going for Aa.

I'm yet to trip up on shutter, what a silly place to put the Ii on the keyboard, next to the U. :oops: :$:LOL:
Click to expand...


Oh no--P-L-E-A-S-E don't bring OCD into this :D

I think Cobra has it. Word blindness.
 
Cobra said:
I do that too, and it annoys me that I have typed a whole sentence with the CAP lock on, when I next look up.


It's called going word blind.
Yuo read waht you want to read, or think waht you have tpyed is correct;)
Click to expand...

As I've just responded to Dale..I think you have the answer. When I read 'word blind' I immediately thought.".yes, ok but why ? " Then you said why. By saying "You read what you want to read" I interpret that as meaning 'you know what you wanted to write and that's what you see notwithstanding that there's a typo or some other kind of error"

From the responses it seems you could say that it's normal human behaviour. I do think that the context has a bearing on it,too. Tiredness, a post is too long and the mind slows down and doesn't process what's being written and maybe being annoyed with someone..red mist syndrome (Politics thread ?) I see quite a few errors in there.Anyway, it's re-assuring to know that it's not uncommon.
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
The basic rules of good writing, as I was taught them 60 years ago...

Rule 1: Use short words where possible.​
Rule 2: Keep sentences as small as you can.​
Rule 3: Use punctuation to split up long sentences.​
Rule 4: When the subject changes, start a new paragraph.​
Click to expand...


All of that is good practice but still, errors will or can occur.
 
Dale. said:
Not forgetting :beer:

which is why I never go near a keyboard if I've had a few.

;)
Click to expand...

I don't have that problem,Dale. Years ago I found that wine gives me quite nasty 'heartburn'.. so did spirits ..the acid,I assume and I don't like english beer and haven't an alcoholic drink for so many years I can't recall the last time. I lived in Germany for three years way back and loved their beer.It's brewed differently..different ingredients.

Btw. When we're out for a meal or staying at a hotel..here or abroad.. I order a large bottle of sparkling water between us .Then the waiter asks if we want "anything to drink". On one occasion I said "that's what I'm going to do with the sparkling water". He wasn't amused. My wife asked me to just say.."no thanks". They don't see water as 'a drink'.
 
Last edited:
What is it about Aa? I always miss the space bar after it.
 
I do it more often when using my phone to type, especially long words, me having big sausage fingers dosnt help but the autocorrect does not help the situation, I'm not too bad if sat at my PC and using a proper keyboard
 
Cobra said:
I do that too, and it annoys me that I have typed a whole sentence with the CAP lock on, when I next look up.


It's called going word blind.
Yuo read waht you want to read, or think waht you have tpyed is correct;)
Click to expand...
Try thus if you do the caps lock thing:-
Highlight the entire text in caps lock, hold down the Fn and Shift keys together, then press F3. The entire text will change into lower case magically
 
Just tried that, Keith - no joy unfortunately.

:(
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top