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If "errored" is not a valid word, then how should I say:

The program errored at line 44

I guess I could say:

The program threw an error at line 44

But why is "errored" wrong? Is there a better alternative?

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Best answer I've heard (not my own, but I like it) ... "Language is what we make of it. If "grrl" can be in the dictionary, errored can be a word." ... Yes, I'm American, can you tell? :^) – user9885 Jun 13 '11 at 18:57
In the immortal words of Calvin, Verbing weirds language. – MT_Head Jun 13 '11 at 23:43
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The program suffered an error at line 44. The program committed an error at line 44. The program obtained an error at line 44. The program enjoyed an error at line 44. At line 44 the program put an error over on you. – GEdgar Apr 5 '12 at 21:11
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In computer science, the word error has its own meaning! as work has its own meaning in physics entirely different in meaning from mainstream usage of the same word. Hence, I would be satisfied with errored or for that matter error-ed... – Vineet Menon Apr 6 '12 at 5:11

10 Answers

up vote 13 down vote

You can actually say "The program erred at line 44", but it's not very idiomatic. "Err" also occurs in the saying "To err is human, to forgive is divine".

If you're looking for the correct idiom, you could say "the program encountered an error at line 44" or "the program hit an error at line 44", etc.

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+1 for "encountered an error" – In the Booley House Sep 15 '10 at 15:58
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I don't think "erring" and "encountering an error" mean the same thing. I would say "the program erred" only if, for example, I asked for the capital of Illinois and it told me "Chicago". – Kosmonaut Sep 15 '10 at 21:49
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@Kosmonaut: It isn't really clear what the program did from the question. – delete Sep 16 '10 at 0:00
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@Shinto: You don't think so? I think the author clarifies what he meant by saying that it can also be called "throwing an error". Also, what would be the use of have a message about a program "erring" on a certain line, if the "error" is not in the computer sense? – Kosmonaut Sep 16 '10 at 11:04
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@Shinto: So, what do you mean when you say "you can actually say X, but it's not very idiomatic"? To me, that means that X is correct, but not common. I think your answer is misleading, particularly for non-native speakers who would be interested in the answer to this question. If you have no desire to defend it, then edit it out. – Kosmonaut Sep 16 '10 at 16:20
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up vote 10 down vote

I've seen it enough in computing contexts that I consider it acceptable there. I wouldn't use it in other domains myself, though, except possibly in a geeky tongue-in-cheek way (e.g., "my DVD player errored out on that scratched disk.")

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up vote 10 down vote

I'd say errored IS a valid word. It's the past tense of the verb "to error". I've seen (well, mostly heard) this word used to mean

  • to operate incorrectly,
  • to display an error message,
  • to encounter an unexpected error,
  • to halt unexpectedly

This is a relatively recent usage of the word (I can't find any authoritative samples of it) it might be considered too informal or slangy. Also, some people might not be sure what precisely you are trying to say. Thus, you should describe more fully what the program is doing.

The program encountered an error at line 44.

Wiktionary

Merriam-Webster (new words, slang)

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Dear downvoter: please explain what you found wrong with my answer. I promise not to get mad. Sincerely, Mr. Shiny and New. – Mr. Shiny and New 安宇 Sep 15 '10 at 18:30
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@Mr. Shiny: don't be sad, even nohat got downvoted just the other day for no obvious reason whatsoever. (Mine is the upvote here, BTW.) – RegDwighт♦ Sep 15 '10 at 18:35
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People here are far too sensitive about downvotes (neither downvote nor upvote on this question or on the one linked to by RegDwight is mine, but I'm tired of this kind of whining about downvotes). – delete Sep 16 '10 at 2:17
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It's not very standard usage. "To error" might be slowly becoming a verb but most educated speakers would say that "err" is the verb. – Joel Spolsky♦ Sep 17 '10 at 3:06
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I would like to chime in that people here are too passive aggressive about downvotes. There's nothing wrong with asking why the downvote: There's a reason that when you click to downvote a popup suggests that you should leave a comment indicating why. It's because part of rigor is peer discussion and review, and, SE users everywhere but here are nothing if not devoted to proper rigor. If it was helpful to downvote without commenting, the popup wouldnt suggest that you do so. – user20276 Apr 19 '12 at 13:30
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up vote 6 down vote

To use "errored" you would have to consider error a verb, but the dictionary doesn't. "Error" is a noun, used to mean mistake. You wouldn't say "The program mistaked at line 44."

Your usage "threw an error" is correct, because it uses error as a noun.

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I have two problems with this answer. One is that lots of nouns become verbed, and often the new coining is immediately understandable (viz Calvin and Hobbes: "Verbing weirds language"). Two, dictionaries don't contain all possible words or all possible uses of words. – Mr. Shiny and New 安宇 Sep 15 '10 at 15:56
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A lot of nouns are indeed used as verbs and the English language is dying horribly as a result. We don't need to add to the problem if we can avoid it. – Brian Hooper Sep 15 '10 at 16:21
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I regard it as a great strength of English that it is not afraid to use nouns as adjectives or verbs, verb forms as nouns or adjectives, interjections as nouns, etc. Not every language is anywhere as flexible. I think we should embrace or at least accept such peculiarities rather than fight them. – RegDwighт♦ Sep 15 '10 at 19:59
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I agree with Mr. Shiny and New. Here's a nice article on verbing. And no, the language is not dying—it's completely alive and kicking, even more so due to this phenomenon. – Jonik Sep 15 '10 at 20:17
Just because English frequently allows verbing, doesn't mean it always does. Not every noun can be used as a verb and still be considered "correct." – Joel Spolsky♦ Sep 17 '10 at 3:06
up vote 3 down vote

You may choose one of the following options:

  • The program returned an error at line 44
  • The program generated an error at line 44
  • The program encountered an error at line 44
  • The program reached an error at line 44
  • The program gave an error at line 44
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Also thrown. – abatishchev Apr 13 '12 at 9:00
up vote 3 down vote

Within programming circles, I'd say that "errored" is a perfectly fine term to use. It seems to be fairly widely understood as a verb form for "error". Outside of computing, I'd probably avoid it. You generally won't hear someone say "Todd errored on his test". It's a field-specific bit of terminology.

That being said, while discussing things within the field of computing, I'd prefer "the program errored/failed/crashed" over "erred", as some others have suggested. Any of those would be concise and make sense.

I would also prefer the options above over "The program threw an error" in informal settings, simply for the fact that it's less wordy, unless the focus of the statement was how exactly the program did the throwing. In technical documents, "threw an error" might be preferable to "errored".

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"The program threw an error" (or an exception) is to me more specific while not being inordinately wordy. "Errored" sounds like non-native speech. – Robusto Apr 8 '12 at 13:02
I suppose it depends on who you're talking to. I'm a native speaker and it sounds fine to me, but I know several people (myself included) who have a propensity to "verb words" as described in the Calvin and Hobbes comic linked above. – KChaloux Apr 10 '12 at 12:28
Verbing nouns (a.k.a. conversion) is common in English. This particular case sounds to me like something a non-native speaker would say. – Robusto Apr 10 '12 at 12:31
up vote 1 down vote

You can say

the program threw an error

though I'd be more inclined to use "caused", as "threw" sounds a little odd (though it is used in the context of exceptions in C++).

(You might also want to provide a more information than merely saying that an error has occurred!)

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"threw" is used in the context of any language that has exceptions (Java, Python, C++, etc) ... personally, I use "errored" quite frequently (and not just in my professional field) – warren Sep 16 '10 at 2:27
up vote 0 down vote

Personally, I prefer to say "the program failed at line 44", although I really like "the program erred at line 44" as suggested by Shinto Sherlock above :).

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up vote 0 down vote

Outside of the context of computer programs. errored is common expression in legal documents. For example, "We find the lower court erred in finding Larry Flint guilty of causing undue pain and suffering of Jerry Falwell"

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lawyers love inventing new ways of saying simple things to make it seem fancy. I'm pretty sure that most legal documents would say "erred," not "errored." – Joel Spolsky♦ Sep 17 '10 at 3:07
@Joel. 1. bows 2. Good point. Fixed. The spelling is different but the intent is the same and therefore I'm leaving it as an answer. – Billy ONeal Sep 17 '10 at 5:06
up vote -1 down vote

Right click on the word. Select Add to Dictionary.

Error is defined as a Noun, but we use it as a Verb, in another 10 years or so the Language Police will see the error in their ways, and allow us to use it as a Verb as well as a Noun, like Googling.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/googling

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protected by RegDwighт♦ Apr 5 '12 at 20:18

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