Typos & New Words

Those were the inconvenient times: pen, notebook, book, and dictionary together, and then turning the pages. As I did, anyone above 40 must have undergone such cumbersome moments to learn English vocabulary. Personal habit counts much: some might have underlined the new words red or blue, turning pages all colourful. It was indeed normal. Importantly, you were fortunate if you had the dictionary; otherwise, it would take at least another day to consult a teacher or friends. It further needs your passion to stay current till the next day.

Forget those old days of encumbrance! When your finger makes errors, you get new words to enrich your dictionary at present. Read my story. It was not a dentist informing me that I had cavities in my teeth, but I knew the word (adjective) 'carious' as my finger erroneously typed 'c' for 'v' while writing various. You know well that key 'c' is a neighbour to 'v' in the computer keyboard.  Another in the list is- 'mange'. I respect this word, though it has canine ties. 

When I mistakenly missed pressing 'a' in my keyboard in the right order, the new word 'mange', came from 'manage'. I missed typing 'a' between 'n' and 'ge'. Don't you wonder why I respect this word? I have deep respect because this word was born among 90,000 words. 'Mange' was not underlined red when I mistook it for 'manage' because it is not a non-English word. After I had a second reading of a novel I translated from Nepali into the English language, I spotted it on my computer screen. I concluded it was a marvel because it was new to me. As I consulted the dictionary, I found it was a kind of skin disease in dogs or fox-like scabies in humans. 

Now, when you inadvertently and erroneously press any letter on the computer keyboard and give birth to new words, it is joyful. But, once it spoils the meaning before you spot it and correct it, it is more than embarrassing- devastating at times. As I found a missing 'a' in the verb 'manage', I corrected it in the novel. 

I still wondered if there was any word to describe such a situation. I searched and found various words. Among them, three words count here, while one is the most relevant- 'fat finger'. The online version of the Cambridge Dictionary defines 'fat finger' as 'a situation in which you press the wrong button by accident when you are using a computer keyboard'. So, I claim that when I mistakenly press 'carious' for 'various', it was a case of fat finger. 

Caution! As is the case of tongue slip, you may hastily say 'finger slip' if you mistakenly press keys (letters), producing wrong words. As the dictionaries suggest, it is offensive and inappropriate. 

However, a powerful idiom is here: 'slip through someone's fingers'. It can be a useful vocabulary for those whose job is writing. It relieves you from the banal use of single words. The Dictionary stated the idiom's meaning as 'if you allow an opportunity or a person to slip through your fingers, you lose it, him, or her through not taking care or making an effort'.

What a change in time! Those days of turning pages of bulky dictionaries and now rejoicing in the fat finger.