A List of Words That Can Be Rendered Hilarious With One Errant Keystroke

I’m talking beyond public, whose comedic possibilities have already been thoroughly explored.

And yes, for most of these, I learned the hard way, and yes, the first one just yesterday.

• faces
• genial
• trust
• tuckered
• named
• Scotch tape
• exotic
• wore
• ditties
• wonton
• hose
• curt
• shot
• shirt
• snitty
• shift
• trump, as a verb or a proper noun
• discount, which can be tragically but wonderfully turned into discocunt
• and of course, superheroes, which becomes the obscure but nonetheless evocative word superherpes when you type just one letter incorrectly

On a related note, the adjectival form of the word pus must be avoided in written form at all costs. Also, true story: Once I typed Josie and the Pussycars in a headline. It wasn’t more obscene, strictly speaking, just more surreal in a way that made me wish pussycars were a thing.