As an editor, I run into a variety of common errors when I take my trusty blue pen to the work of others. People frequently misspell words like lavender and turquoise. They make grammar errors, comma splices and a host of other mistakes. My role as an editor is to know the rules and to know to look for these errors. In result, I have come to expect them.

But as a writer and an editor, I am not perfect and am prone to my own finger stumbles on the keyboard. I forget letters. I miss commas and periods. And for some reason, I seem to have a few errors that come up over and over again that—let’s be honest here—have some sort of sexual element that can be inferred from them.

Supposedly Freud said that sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. But Freud had a sexual inference to make about even the most mundane occurrences. Personally, I’m not aware of any frustrations that I am carrying around, but these typos keep happening. So are my typos a product of my fingers flying too quickly across the keys or is there some sort of sexual frustration and innuendo to be gleaned from them? Is my subconsciousness deep in the realm of the erotic or is my life just that full of coincidence?

My top 3 Freudian (Slip) typos are as follows:

1. Abou tit. Crap. About it!
This one I think is the most likely candidate for the quickly flying fingers on the keyboard excuse. Freud might have something else to say about it. (hah did it right that time!) But I’m sticking to my guns. This one is all about how quickly I type! I swear…

2. Thongs. I mean Things.
Luckily a coworker has gratified me by saying that she has made this typo herself. And to be honest, she informed me of making this typo the other day and thus inspired me to write this post.

Yes, the letters “i” and “o” are right next to each other on the keyboard, so perhaps I have another legitimate excuse for my mistake. This error showed up continuously in my work in college and graduate school and every time it did, I would snicker to myself as I edited. I was a mature college student, wasn’t I?

What say you, Freud?

3. Pubic Relations. I mean PubLic Relations.
For a time I worked in public relations, but apparently my subconsciousness was more interested in pubic relations. Go figure.

This can be really problematic when you are working on your resumé. Luckily I know what to look for in my own work. Well Freud, all I can say to defend myself on this one is I just plain missed the letter. Did my brain miss it on purpose? Or was it an accident. There are no accidents, Freud would respond.

And just in case you were wondering: No I have never submitted my resumé for a job with the phrase “pubic relations” on it. Thank God!

Perhaps if Freud were alive, he would find something telling about my subconsciousness based on the Freudian slips I make on the keyboard. After all, a cigar is a cigar. Or is it?

Either way, now that I’ve confessed these errors, I feel a whole lot better about myself as an editor. Do you have any interesting and/or recurring keyboard slip-ups to share?