fat finger

From the idea that a finger that is too fat or large is likely to accidentally press one or more keys other than the intended one.

• "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."