Forum: english.stackexchange.com
Tags: <word-choice><verbs><grammaticality><past-tense>
Title: Is "errored" correct usage?
Question: 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?

Answers:
sents: text: You can actually say "The program erred at line 44", but it's not very idiomatic. "
text: Err" also occurs in the saying "To err is human, to forgive is divine".
text: 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.
answer_details: author: english.stackexchange.com/users/None/
score: 32
sents: text: I'd say errored IS a valid word.
text: It's the past tense of the verb "to error".
text: I've seen (well, mostly heard)
text: this word used to mean to operate incorrectly, to display an error message, to encounter an unexpected error, to halt unexpectedly
text: This is a relatively recent usage of the word
text: (I can't find any authoritative samples of it)
text: it might be considered too informal or slangy.
text: Also, some people might not be sure what precisely you are trying to say.
text: Thus, you should describe more fully what the program is doing.
text: The program encountered an error at line 44.
text: Wiktionary Merriam-Webster (new words, slang)
text: The verb 'to error' has a different meaning than 'to err'.
text: An "error" in a computer program isn't necessarily a mistake, but can be an exceptional circumstance.
text: For example, if a program tried to open its configuration file, but you deleted it, the program might fail by displaying an error for this unexpected circumstance.
text: You could say "the program errored.
text: " You can't say "the program erred" because the program isn't making a mistake here.
answer_details: author: english.stackexchange.com/users/380/Mr. Shiny and New 安宇
score: 30
sents: text: I've seen it enough in computing contexts that I consider it acceptable there.
text: 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.")
answer_details: author: english.stackexchange.com/users/857/MaxN
score: 12
sents: text: To use "errored" you would have to consider error a verb, but the dictionary doesn't.
text: "Error" is a noun, used to mean mistake.
text: You wouldn't say "The program mistaked at line 44."
text: Your usage "threw an error" is correct, because it uses error as a noun.
answer_details: author: english.stackexchange.com/users/1248/hjd
score: 10
sents: text: You may choose one of the following options: The program returned an error at line 44
text: The program generated an error at line 44
text: The program encountered an error at line 44
text: The program reached an error at line 44
text: The program gave an error at line 44
answer_details: author: english.stackexchange.com/users/127/Mehper C. Palavuzlar
score: 6
sents: text: Within programming circles, I'd say that "errored" is a perfectly fine term to use.
text: It seems to be fairly widely understood as a verb form for "error".
text: Outside of computing, I'd probably avoid it.
text: You generally won't hear someone say "Todd errored on his test".
text: It's a field-specific bit of terminology.
text: 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.
text: Any of those would be concise and make sense.
text: 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.
text: In technical documents, "threw an error" might be preferable to "errored".
answer_details: author: english.stackexchange.com/users/16866/KChaloux
score: 3
sents: text: 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++).
text: (You might also want to provide a more information than merely saying that an error has occurred!)
answer_details: author: english.stackexchange.com/users/303/Steve Melnikoff
score: 1

Summary of the answers:
It is possible that, in programming circles, the word "errored" is perfectly acceptable in this context. However, if you're looking for an alternative, other possible options include "The program encountered an error", "The program generated an error" or "The program erred".
The word "errored" is acceptable within a computing context but might sound out of place elsewhere. There are many other ways of making the same report using the noun "error".
It is possible that, in programming circles, the word "errored" is perfectly acceptable in this context. However, if you're looking for an alternative, other possible options include "The program encountered an error", "The program generated an error" or "The program erred".
Within programming circles, I'd say that "errored" is a perfectly fine term to use, but outside of computing, I'd probably avoid it. "Error" is a noun, used to mean mistake.  To use "errored" you would have to consider error a verb, but the dictionary doesn't.  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  
To use "errored" you would have to consider error a verb, but the dictionary does not.  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.
In computing circles, the word "errored" might be acceptable. However, in order to use the word "errored", the word "error" would have to be a verb, and this is not supported by the dictionary. Instead, alternative choices could be "generated an error", "encountered an error" or "threw an error".