Well, this is awkward. You’re reading a 19th-century romance novel where the plucky heroine is finally reunited with her lover, so she joyously flings “her anus around his neck”. Wait, what? It turns out this is a surprisingly common turn of events in Google Books search. OCR, you sure have some kinky tastes.
These hilarious OCR (or optical character recognition) mistakes were spotted by Sarah Wendell of the blog Smart Bitches, Trashy Books when she tweeted this heartfelt passage. It’s from a story published in the esteemed Harper’s Magazine in 1876.
Wait, there’s more. Of course, there’s more. The OCR error seems to affect digitised books old and new alike. The Guardian went deep into Google Books’ library to find a few more gems, a few highlights of which are below (though head there for the full list).
From Matisse on the Loose:
“When she spotted me, she flung her anus high in the air and kept them up until she reached me. ‘Matisse. Oh boy!’ she said. She grabbed my anus and positioned my body in the direction of the east gallery and we started walking.”
From Edward:
“Mrs, Nevile, in exquisite emotion, threw her anus around the neck of Caroline, pressed Her with fervour to her breast.
There are plenty more unfortunate mistakes lurking in Google Books. Just try The Guardian‘s suggested searches “took him in her anus” or “wound her anus“. [The Guardian]
Picture: Wikimedia Commons
