Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
A typographical error or "typo" is a mistake made during the typing process. This excludes errors of ignorance, rather being the result of slips of the hand or finger, or in some cases, mechanical failure. Typographical errors typically manifest in the form of an additional or missing character, or the switching of two characters.
The emergence of Usenet and the World Wide Web as popular forms of mass-communication brought with it many people who are not skilled typists but have a lot to say. Typos are therefore common on the Usenet and the Web, and some have found certain notoriety as in-jokes among Internet groups and subcultures.
A well-known typo in the Internet gaming subculture is pwned. The etymology is not definite, but it is widely-believed that the close proximity of the O and P keys on a QWERTY keyboard caused the accidental typing — and subsequent publishing — of pwned instead of owned (a declaration of domination over an opponent) in a popular multiplayer game. The in-joke has since gained considerable popularity and variations.
"teh best thign evar!!1!one!1!!"
Users who are careless about their fast, emotional postings to web forums have sometimes brought on some sardonic ridicule with similar "errors" by others in follow-up or stereotypical postings. The ridicule is not usually directed solely at the original poster's typing ability, but also their impatience and carelessness to contribute a meaningful posting. This has included:
- The misspelling of 'the' as 'teh', combined with poor grammar and similar misspellings.
- The sardonic ridicule of a user being so excited that they have failed to hold down the shift key long enough to type a consistent series of exclamation marks (resulting in a string of characters like "!!!1!1!"). Such ridicule is usually exacted by the replacement of '1' characters with literal 'one's in a similar string. e.g., "OMG that is sooo interesting!!!1!one!"
Despite syntactical similarities, this form of intentional mis-typing is not directly related to leetspeak. The intentional replacement of choice characters in leetspeak usually has the intention of obfuscation rather than ridicule.
A common internet typo for student. Netizens who use the word, whether intentionally or not, may receive humorous replies referencing a fictitious network of studs, of which a "Studnet ID" is highly regarded.
Spell-checkers, while useful, are not perfect. This short line, containing no spelling errors but also no coherence, illustrates the point: "Marry hat hey lid tell lam, ids fleas woes wide has know." The line was originally from a Foxtrot Comic. Another humorous example that spell-checkers miss is inserting a space into the word "abreast" to make it two words.
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