This Double Indemnity, as [Billy] Wilder called it, was something that derived from an old newspaper story. Back at the dawn of time, back even before Arthur Krock first arrived in Washington to cover the administration of William Howard Taft for the Louisville Times, a terrible thing happened at the printing plant in Louisville. There was an ad in the paper for women’s underwear, as Krock recounted the episode to a young writer on the New York World, and it was supposed to say, “If these sizes are too big, take a tuck in them.” But as Krock was reading through that night’s first edition, he saw that someone had changed the first letter in the word “tuck.”Krock ordered the ad changed for the next edition, then summoned the printer and demanded an explanation. The printer couldn’t provide one. He couldn’t understand how such an embarrassing accident could have happened. Krock remained suspicious. Two days later, he went and interrogated the printer again, in the interrogatory manner that would daunt future presidents and secretaries of state when Krock became Washington bureau chief for the New York Times. The printer confessed. “Mr. Krock,” he said, trying finally to explain, “you do nothing your whole life but watch for something like that happening, so as to head it off, and then, Mr. Krock, you catch yourself watching for chances to do it.”
— Otto Friedrich, City of Nets.
Misprints in the Bible have always been of particular concern. An edition in 1631, nicknamed the "Wicked Bible," omitted the word not from Exodus 20:14, changing the prohibition against adultery into the command: "Thou shalt commit adultery." A contemporary historian recorded thatA nice collection of such oddities is compiled at http://www.biblecollectors.org/bible_misprints.htmHis Majesties Printers, at or about this time, had committed a scandalous mistake in our English Bibles, by leaving out the word Not in the Seventh Commandment. His Majesty being made acquainted with it by the Bishop of London, Order was given for calling the Printers into the High-Commission, where upon Evidence of the Fact, the whole Impression was called in, and the Printers deeply fined, as they justly merited. With some part of this Fine Laud [Archbishop William Laud] caused a fair Greek Character to be provided, for publishing such Manuscripts as Time and Industry should make ready for the Publick view.