The alt.usage.english FAQ   

• typo

  (Word Origins)
  
  

  
     "Typo" is related to, but does not come from, the verb "to type".
  It is short for "typographical error", which, of course, could
  refer to any error made by a typographer.  (The humorous but useful
  hackish coinage "thinko", used for when the person typing was
  *thinking* of the wrong thing, pretends that "typo" does come from
  "to type".  The Jargon File also gives "mouso", a ubiquitous kind
  of error in this point-and-click era.)
  
     Arguments of the form "It couldn't have been a typo, because
  those two keys are nowhere near each other on the keyboard" are a
  bit tiresome, especially when one keeps the true etymology of "typo"
  in mind.

  
  
  Source: [Mark Israel, 'Word Origins: typo', The alt.usage.english FAQ file,(line 4297), (29 Sept 1997)]
  
  
  
  

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