• Slang – Fat fingers or fat-fingers
  • Meaning – This expression is used to describe someone making a mistake when they are typing. It can also be used to describe somebody pressing the wrong numbers on a number pad. Someone with fat fingers is a clumsy typist. Fat fingers cause a keyboard input error.
  • The implication of this expression is that somebody’s fingers are too large so they have difficulty hitting only one key on the keyboard. This – of course – leads to typos.
  • A typo is a typographical (typing) error.
What is a fat-finger error?
  • When talking about financial trade a fat-finger error is used to describe a keyboard input error in the stock market. This typo causes an order to be bought or sold for a far greater size than intended – or for some other major mistake to be made when trading.
Example:
  • “Here’s the report you asked for last week. It took me hours to finish because of my fat fingers!”
Listen:
In The News:

The Week UK – Did a ‘fat finger’ error cause pound to drop below $1.20?