June 29, 2007 - Ecomom*

The majority of economists are men, though most "home economists" have been women. In any case, the idea of EcoMom has resonance, if more as a symbol of green, life-affirming ecology than grim, gray-suited economics. Ecomom* rakes in 35 records on OhioLINK, Ecomon* grooves to 49, and Econon*, with 34, gets the least number of hits, but the most letters right, before simply repeating the N from two letters before. Other variants on the Ballard list include: Ecnom*, Econim*, Economc*, Econio*, Econm*, Economio*, Economoc, Economoic, Econoomic, and, humorously enough, Ecocomic. The simplest explanation for all of these typos is that the N and M keys are right next to each other and a little hard to reach, so it's easy to confuse them. Although, I still think Mom had something to do with it.

Carol Reid