Dictionary definition of “finger trouble”

finger trouble

n. a problem caused by a typographical error, incorrect settings on a machine, or poor manual dexterity. Subjects: English, Aviation, Technology, Euphemism

Etymological Note: This term appears to originate in aviation.

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Citations: [1947 Stuart W. Cook Psychological research on radar observer training p. 31: The same quality has been designated “systematic diligence” elsewhere. Some radar observers exhibit “finger trouble” in tuning…] 1952 Vivian Voss The Story of No. 1 Squadron S.A.A.F., Sometime Known as the Billy Boys p. 106: Because of the scarcity of aircraft, any flying accident thought to be even remotely due to finger-trouble on the part of the pilot, was severely dealt with. 1983 Journal of the Operational Research Society (Dec.) “Conference Abstracts” vol. 34, no. 12, p. A31: The system is user friendly, provides comprehensive computer data-checking features and is robust to operator finger trouble. 1984 William M. Carley @ Madrid Wall Street Journal (June 6) “Off Course: Spanish Airlines Make More Than Their Share Of Navigational Errors”: Iberia and Spantax pilots, more than most, have been having what safety experts call “finger trouble.” They have been hitting the wrong numbers on the inertial navigation system keyboard. 1985 [Raymond D. Dunn] Usenet: net.micro.pc (July 26) “Re: software protection - dongles & other gizmos”: Sure we have all had disk problems, but what percentage of these were not associated with writing/deleting/finger-trouble/bad-handling—extremely small! 1986 [John O'Neill] (Sept. 24) “Slow Motion Mode in MacsBug - Is TN#7 Correct?” @ Usenet: mod.mac (Sept. 26, 1996) “INFO-MAC Digest V4 #121”: “To turn slow motion mode off, simply enter MacsBug and type SS.” This does not appear to work for me—slow motion mode stays on. Is it finger trouble? 2004 Domestic & General Group (Apr.) “Technical helpline support for Sanyo customers”: Customers contacting the Helpline do so for a variety of reasons. Perhaps they don’t understand the remote control, the instruction book or are having problems caused by “finger trouble.” We will—using Sanyo products and manuals—talk them through the process and try to resolve the problem. 2005 Peter Van Epp @ Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada uUnisog—UNIversity Security Operations Group mailing list (Sept. 20) “Intelligent Patch Panels”: Finger trouble on the control panel is my big worry. Unlike the passive taps where I can (and do) get the wrong connection on the sniffer, such a mistake on an active patch panel could disrupt a live connection. 2006 hako @ Townsville, North Queensland Just Commodores (Oct. 29) “ Air Bag Light”: The only way to clear the light is by someone with a scanner—some auto elects can do it or a dealer. You probably turned the ignition on whilst disconnecting something under the dash. All it means is that your airbag is now disconnected/isolated for whatever reason but generally its due to finger trouble. 2007 Sunday Times (Perth, Australia) (Jan. 21) “Pointing the finger” p. R19: It was an assembly error in the car’s in-line six that led to a blow-up and fire as one of the conrods left the scene of the crime through the side of the engine block. Race teams put such failures down to “finger trouble,” since they are often due to mechanics doing something wrong with their hands. 2007 Abdul Milazi Business Day (Johannesburg, South Africa) (July 2) “Bleeping Device Easily Worth Its Weight in Gold”: We normally don’t have service calls as the hardware is very reliable. In fact, we have never made a hardware repair. Problems come from what is known as finger trouble, where unskilled people fiddle with the computer and somehow lose the settings.

Posted 4 Jul 07 | Permalink | Tell a Friend

Reader comments:

With PC’s, such errors are politely called “chair keyboard interface errors”, or, less politely, “Id10t” errors.”

In tech support parlance: “User Error, Replace user and try again.”

by David 17 Jul 07, 1209 GMT