Typographical error

Typographical error (often shortened to typo) refers to mistakes made in the typing process of printed material. Historically, this referred to mistakes in manual type-setting (typesetting). With the advent of digital typesetting and word processing, the term has expanded to include errors made in digital typing.

History

The term "typographical error" originated from the traditional printing trade of manual letterpress printing. This involved the process of arranging types with a compositor's stick. The compositor would select letters needed from a type case, and arrange them in the order of the text. Mistakes made during this process could include setting the wrong type, setting the type in the wrong order, or omitting a character altogether. These mistakes would then appear in print.

With the introduction of the typewriter and later digital word processing, the term "typographical error" has expanded in meaning to include mistakes made in the typing process. This includes errors due to mechanical failure or slips of the hand or finger, but excludes errors of ignorance, such as spelling errors.

Common types of typographical errors

Typographical errors can take on many forms and can be categorized into several types:

• Substitution errors: This is when one letter is replaced by another. For example, typing "teh" instead of "the".
• Transposition errors: This is when two letters are swapped, such as typing "frmo" instead of "from".
• Insertion errors: This is when an extra letter is typed, such as typing "thee" instead of "the".
• Deletion errors: This is when a letter is omitted, such as typing "th" instead of "the".
• Cognitive errors: These are errors that occur when a word is incorrectly thought and typed, such as typing "there" when "their" is intended.

Impact and correction

Typographical errors can have significant impact in many fields. In literature, they can alter the meaning of a text and cause confusion. In legal documents, they can lead to lawsuits and legal disputes. In programming, they can cause a program to fail to run.

Many modern word processors have built-in error correction software that can detect and correct typographical errors. This includes spell checkers and grammar checkers. However, these tools are not infallible and some errors may still go unnoticed.

See also

• Proofreading
• Copy editing
• Error (disambiguation)