clerical error

plural clerical errors

1. An error on the part of an office worker, often a secretary or personal assistant.

   ‘The groans of this sick person,’ he said, ‘distract my attention. And without that it is extremely difficult to guard against clerical errors in this climate.’

   1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I

   1 more example

   Vardag[…] added: “The state should not be divorcing people on the basis of a clerical error. There has to be intention on the part of the person divorcing, because the principle of intention underpins the justice of our legal system.

   2024 April 15, Emine Sinmaz, quoting Ayesha Vardag, “Wrong couple get divorced after solicitor ‘clicks wrong button’”, in The Guardian, →ISSN