goof
n.n. a silly or embarrassing mistake. You use this word when you want to sound casual and friendly about a small error.
n. a foolish or embarrassing mistake.
I made a small goof on my first day at the office.
He didn't realize he had made a goof until his boss pointed it out during the meeting.
While the report was mostly accurate, a minor goof in the final calculation led to a significant overestimation of the project's total cost.
Perhaps from dialectal English goff (“foolish clown”), from earlier goffe, in which case further etymology is uncertain. Perhaps from Middle English goffen (“to speak in a frivolous manner”), possibly from Old English gaf, ġegaf (“base; wanton; lewd”, adjective), ġegaf (“buffoonery; scurrility”, noun), gaffetung, golfettung (“buffoonery; mockery”). Compare English dialectal gauffin (“lightheaded; foolish; giddy”), Scots gaff, gawf (“to talk loudly; babble”), Scots gaffaw (“a loud laugh”). Alternatively, perhaps from Middle French goffe (“awkward; stupid”). Compare also Spanish gofo, Italian goffo.