Passing Phrase - www.learnhebrew.org.il

Ta-ut Le-olam Chozeret

Literally: Mistakes always happen (come back)
Idiomatically: Errors and Omissions Excepted / To err is human

The phrase was originally used to deal with mistakes made by a "Baal Koreh" (the person reading the weekly Torah portion in synagogue). If he made a mistake he can just go back to the beginning of the sentence and repeat it – no harm done. Its commercial usage can also be traced to the Talmud (Baba Metzia 50b) regarding fraud: Rabbi Isaac bar Sheshet Perfet, aka the "RiVash" (1326-1408), upgraded it as a reference to any mistake in a commercial deal. His idea was that if a mistake was made you can always step back and fix it by cancelling the agreement. The logical place to find this phrase would be on a receipt from a department store, or some bill of lading. Sometimes it will be abbreviated as Ta'La'Ch. Basically today it is used to prevent liabilities if there is a clerical error in a bill or contract.

But me? I never make mistakes just ask my wife …

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