fat finger
verb
- to make a mistake while typing on a keyboard
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈfæt ˈfɪŋɡə/ / /ˈfæt ˈfɪŋɡɚ/
noun
Etymology: From the idea that a finger that is too fat or large is likely to accidentally press one or more keys other than the intended one.
- A supposed cause of typographical errors, especially keyboard errors, caused from erroneous key presses or typing errors on touchscreen devices.
“The first subcategory is what I choose to call Fat Fingers Syndrome. This is a problem obviously caused by poor typing techniques which result in a single finger striking two keys instead of one. [...] The opposite of the fat finger problem is what I call simply the Missed Key(s). This can also result in the writing of real (but wrong) words, such as "rod" for rode or "trace" for trance.”
“The London Stock Exchange is to enhance the measures it has in place to ensure ‘fat finger’ trades do not occur.”
verb
Etymology: From the idea that a finger that is too fat or large is likely to accidentally press one or more keys other than the intended one.
- Alternative form of fat-finger (“to type (something) erroneously on a keyboard, keypad, or touchscreen by accidentally pressing with a finger one or more keys other than the intended one”).
“Slowing down the number of login attempts before an IP address is blocked reduces the attractiveness of your site to an automatic attack script. Note that generally these offer temporary IP address blocking, so that valid users who accidentally fat finger their password have an opportunity to log in after the ban has expired.”