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The Worst Typo I Ever Made

Tom Scott · commentary · Watch on YouTube

Software practice, open source & careersDatabases & storageTesting, debugging & developer tools

What it is

Tom Scott recounts the worst typo he ever made, a subtle mistake in code with destructive consequences at a previous job. It is a cautionary tale about irreversible operations.

Why Hacker News recommends it

Shared in outage and accidental-deletion threads as a relatable, well-told horror story.

  • 2 people recommended it
  • 2 different months
  • 0 strong recommendations
  • first 2020, last 2026

What HN commenters said

  1. “Tom Scott has a great video on his "Oh Shoot" moment”

    Tom Scott recounts his worst code mistake.

    rococosbasilisk, 2020-08 · Recommendation · in “The “Oh Shoot” Moment”

  2. “Tom Scott, as usual, has a great video about the onosecond (sic)”

    Tom Scott on the ohnosecond after a terrible mistake.

    sneela, 2026-07 · Recommendation · in “List of Humorous Units of Measurement”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: tom scott, sql, data loss, postmortem, human error

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