Meaning of fat finger | Babel Free

Definitions

A supposed cause of typographical errors, especially keyboard errors, caused from erroneous key presses or typing errors on touchscreen devices.

also, attributive, humorous, idiomatic, informal

Equivalents

Examples

“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.”

“Although it appeared to be triggered by unrest in Greece, the real cause could be a trader's "fat fingers."”

“The Securities and Exchange Commission is on the case, pursuing a lead that a "fat finger" keystroke error on a trade in Procter & Gamble, one of the 30 stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, turned a trade of millions into a trade of billions.”

“A typical operational risk that needs to be countered is the ‘fat finger’ where, in stressful and fast-moving markets, a trader might key in a wrong order. There are numerous examples where such an order moved the market and generated a loss for the executing firm. A fat finger limit will prevent a portfolio manager keying in a trade with a size beyond a particular trigger level.”

“Maximum quantity limits help prevent human and algorithmic "fat finger" errors by enforcing the maximum order sizes and trading positions.”

“Someone with fat fingers pressed a wrong number is my guess. I suppose I'd better give them a ring and fess up.”

“Still, due to fat fingers, user-interface elements need to be large enough and spaced far apart enough so that users' fingers can find their way around the interface comfortably.”

“I must have dialed the wrong number. Fat fingers and all that.”

CEFR level