Do You Stutter When You Type?

[JayFreddy]

I've been noticing this of myself lately. I'm not a lightning fast typist, but I probably bounce along at around 60 words per minute, on average, and I am touch typing, i.e., I don't look at my fingers.

Recently, I've found that I'll make a post, and then when I proof read it, or sometimes after I've posted, I'll find that I've repeat certain words, or sometimes whole sections of sentences. Apparently I do this subconsciously, and it's weird to come back later and see that I've done it.

For example, it it could be as simple as something like repeating a pronoun.

Other times I might actually repeat an entire actually repeat an entire piece of a sentence.

I don't recall doing this when I was younger.

I'm wondering if this could possibly be a sign of something else... Hopefully nothing serious... Anyway, thanks in advance for any insight you might be able to provide.

[glen smith]

I wouldn't worry wouldn't worry about it.

[Justinvs]

I do stuff like that all the time, usually hitting the space bar at the wrong time. All my the's come out as either th e, t he, or teh. I wouldn't worry about it overmuch.

[misterbluesman]

I do this while talking in real life. I say a sentence and then repeat it under my breath. I've always wondered why I do it.

[Count]

Not only do I stutter when I type I also become dyslexic, I just give thanks for spell and grammar checkers. Does not happen when I go back to my quill pen.

[Davecam48]

I don't stutter but my c o m p u t e r duz!

[trev333]

I only s s s s stutter when I r r r r rap...

[Nick JD]

Completely off topic, but why not, eh?

[Jamie Black]

originally posted by glen smith

I wouldn't worry wouldn't worry about it.

Jimmy Two Times

[1955]

Well yesterday I ran my super-colon-blow coffee-cocoa-cinnamon smoothie with a straw still in it. I will advise to not use your teeth as a primary filter for stray plastic shards. Combining quick reflexes, cold-sensitivity, and self-loathing is a sure-fire way to then spill an entire blender onto the spice rack. Yay! Coffee-flavored garlic!

So don't feel so bad.

[jumpnblues]

Yes and especially when I write longhand. I just hate it when I ruin greeting cards and I've ruined a bunch. Really pisses me off. I've tried taking my time, etc. to no avail. Same with typing on the computer. Drives me totally insane. But...what ya' gonna' do?


Tom

[Larry F]

My big problem is in teaching composition, individually and in a class. Over the years, I have developed quite a few things that are important to tell a student, either about a specific spot in a piece that has a problem that I see often in others, or general things that I think composers need to be aware of.

When I'm speaking to a student one on one, or in a small class, I speak in three parallel time streams. There is the speech of what is physically coming out of my mouth, there is my brain pondering the thing I said a few sentences earlier, and there is the thing that I am planning to say. I do the exact same thing when I play a guitar solo. Same thing, but with notes instead of words.

The problem is this. Did I already say what I am saying right now, or what I plan to say? When did I say it. A few sentences earlier, an hour earlier with a different student, or last semester with the same or a different group of students?

Fortunately, I know that I am not alone in having a number of pat things to say. For example, at a conference once, I composer that I had just started to get to know, said to me at intermission, that my piece, which had just been performed, needed to be longer, as it seemed too short to him. Now, I am not known for writing long pieces, so I took this comment very seriously. Several years later, I happened to pass by him after a concert somewhere else, and I overheard him say to another composer that his piece was too short.

This is a very common phenomenon, I have found. It seems like so many creative people, when offering criticisms, have a somewhat limited number of things that they focus on in someone else's music.

So, back to me, I'm the same way. The big problem, then, is trying to remember if I have yet said such a thing to someone for the first time or not.

Then there's this forum. People who have been around here long enough, know very well that I fixate on certain topics, questions, and ideas. Sometimes I didn't feel like I got a satisfactory response, so I bide my time for 6 months, then launch the query again. One example was trying to find out what "sanctified" meant to people. I once overheard one student talking to another about playing music in a certain church. The other student asked of the church, "sanctified?" Later, I was reading Hubert Sumlin's bio or auto-bio, when he discussed his present wife. She was a very religious person, "sanctified," he added. I posed this topic a few years ago, but didn't really get a good answer that satisfied my curiosity. I waited for some time, whether months or years, I can't remember. I then brought it up again, when, to my embarrassment, someone did a search and said I had asked the same question earlier. Well, the embarrassment was pretty slight, but even better, I got a much better set of answers.

[Alamo]

I wouldn't wouldn't worry about it, but it could be worse.

like typing with bursts of Tourette syndrome

[fraser]

i just use one finger.
speed doesnt matter when forum posting really.
and im always using a full sized keyboard,
never a phone or any of those things.
i still make mistakes, but when i do,
its pure ignorance on my part.
nothing else to blame.

[Cat MacKinnon]

Originally Posted by JayFreddy

I don't recall doing this when I was younger.

I'm wondering if this could possibly be a sign of something else... Hopefully nothing serious... Anyway, thanks in advance for any insight you might be able to provide.

i think it's quite the opposite, in fact. as we get older, i think we (usually) try to be more thoughtful about what comes out of our mouths (or keyboards, in this case.) i think our "filters" improve as we age. i'd also like to think we have a lower tolerance for poor grammar (then again, that may just be wishful thinking on my part based on my mom's horrible grammar and spelling.)

sometimes i'll actually edit a post multiple times after i've hit "submit", mostly because really bad grammar or spelling on my part drives me nuts (and yes, i'm fully aware that i don't capitalize the first letter in sentences, but that's a whole separate thing that i'm not getting into right now.) it's just a little OCD thing i've got.

[JayFreddy]

Thanks for all the replies. I want to clarify that I'm not talking about typos. I make those too, but I've always made those.

This repetition thing is something new, just in the last year or two. Back in my 30's, I was doing a lot of translation work, and my typing was easily 70 wpm, if not more, with 99% accuracy.

Nowadays my accuracy leaves much to be desired, but I'm quick on the backspace key, so I correct as I go, sacrificing time for accuracy...

What's weird to me is that sometimes I type something, and then I type it over again subconsciously, without thinking about it.

Usually it's just just one word, but as I said earlier, sometimes I find that I've retyped nearly half the sentence find that I retyped nearly half the sentence, and I'm not even conscious of it until after I've done it...

I called it "stutter" because that's the closest verbal analogy I can think of, but it's more like putting cream in the coffee twice, or paying the same bill twice...

What kind of spooks me is I'm wondering if these could be precursors to Alzheimer's or possibly a predilection towards stroke. It's nothing obvious, but it's obvious enough to me that bothers me. I'm due for a physical anyway. The problem is I don't trust doctors any farther than I can throw 'em, which isn't far because I'm fat and out of shape... lol

Thanks for letting me ramble.

Originally Posted by Nick JD

Completely off topic, but why not, eh?

Thanks for these too... Never heard of 'em before, but they're absolute GENIUS!

[soulman969]

Originally Posted by trev333

I only s s s s stutter when I r r r r rap...

Oh that is ch...ch..ch..chchchchoice! Thanks for posting it.