Frequently making typos/bad proofreading, how common is this?

[Lysander]

I have noticed recently that I have got very bad at proofreading what I write. Or maybe I always was. It is very common for me to think that I have written something, only for a while later to realise I have written something else.

For instance, yesterday I sent an email at work which began:

Can we have a chat in the next few days...

At least I thought it did until I re-read it today, and it actually reads:

Can we have a chat in the new days...

I could have sworn it said the former. Is this common? Is it something to do with the quantity of emails I send or am I going mad? It's doubtless to do with my mind pasting onto the screen what I wanted to write and reading that back to myself rather than what's actually there.

 

[Lysander]

Yup totally I I am the same.

Indeed! Glad to know it's not just me, then.

 

[Lysander]

hey ho, I fairly aware I've abused my body so it's expected.

Is that related? And in what way has it been 'abused'?!

 

[Lysander]

skin reads words

Skim reads?

 

[Lysander]

It's much easier to proof read someone else's writing because as mentioned when reading your own your brain often substitutes in what you think you've written rather than what you actually have.

Probably linked in with the mechanism of the brain that it mainly skin reads words and fills in the blanks anyway

Even published novels and peer-reviewed papers have typos occasionally. Just proves that no matter how many times you - and other people - read something, everyone does the "skim read" thing to some extent.

 

[Lysander]

You only have to look at how often I edit my posts on here to see how often I do this.

Ah, good. That makes me feel somewhat better.

 

[Lysander]

I think auto-correct/complete features are partly to blame for this sort of thing getting worse, people are so reliant on them now while typing whatever they intend to say as quickly as possible. Even when they're not being used your brain sort of acts as though they are, and you end up with weird sentences and gibberish.

I do this a lot, mostly on Google search. I half-mash the right word in because I know it will correct it for me. I will also do this in a browser with 'harder' words because I know I can right-click and correct them.

I think I've actually forgotten how to spell some words as a result of this.

 

[Lysander]

In due time, I received my original copy back along with a second edition which corrected them all and I got a mention in the acknowledgements.

He should have taken you out to dinner for that, a credit costs him about three seconds of typing.

 

[Lysander]

Changing "can't" to a more offensive c-word being one example.

"Cone"? I mean, "cone" is pretty offensive. "Damn you, you cone". If someone said that to me I'd be proper miffed.

 

[Lysander]

Yesterday my mates released a new music video with lyrics hardcoded and I have never seen such a bad example of every line having a spelling mistake. Even the chorus features the word 'psychodelic' several times. I need to tell them.

Drives me mad, especially in professional lyric videos. Some of them are very expensive as well, and then they ruin it with a schoolboy spelling error.