When the Internet was young, things went viral on email as people forwarded tidbits of interest to everybody on their contact list. This particular bit is now referred to as a “vintage meme” from September 2003, and that’s precisely when it was sent to me.

As with most things forwarded along without fact checking, attribution is difficult to pin down. Snopes’ verdict? Undetermined. Apparently there were actual studies done at Cambridge and the University of Edinburgh that might qualify as the source. Other online sources claim that this viral piece led to the term “typoglycemia” to describe the brain’s ability to decipher words if the first and last letters are in the correct place.

Either way, it’s a fun example of how our brains interpret words on a page.

Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is that the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig, huh?