Learn English – the origin of the word “wog”

I'm partial to the shift key+z typo answer.

If you're typing OMG really fast (cause you're so excited) you're going to slip and hit zOMG, since the < key isn't between shift and Z on most US keyboards.

Outside of any of the other possible origins, the typo is the most likely because it's most easily 'discovered' by small groups of people who are instant messaging each other. Most likely it has risen out of a parallell evolution because of our natural tendencies (as opposed to being invented or "first coined" by anyone).

Essentially, we all invent it ourselves.

The Daily Show recently did a bit on this issue, and the interchange between John Stewart and Larry Wilmore explains the tension around the "N word" and the US tendency to indulge in revisionist history.

Here is a partial transcript:

...

JON STEWART: Well, the editors of this new version are trying to make the book more accessible, they say, so that it can be taught without making students in the classroom, who may be uncomfortable, repeat the word nrnrnnrnrnrnr….

WILMORE: I’m sorry?

STEWART: Just so that the children don’t have to say, in the class, say nnrnrnrnernnnrr….

WILMORE: I’m sorry, what word were you…

STEWART: Nnnnnuuuuuuu….

WILMORE: Say it, Jon!

STEWART: Nnnnniiiuuuuuuu…. It’s uncomfortable!

WILMORE: And it should be! Look, Mark Twain put that word in for a reason. The n-word speaks to a society that casually dehumanized black people; “slave” is just a job description. And, it’s not even accurate! In the book, Jim is no longer a slave. He ran away! Twain’s point is he can’t run away from being a nigger.

...

Many people in the US feel extremely uncomfortable with the "N word" because of its checkered history and negative connotations, though the word was much more commonplace at the time that the story was written. The common term for African American ethnicity was derogatory and dehumanizing, so Twain went with the common term as a sign of the times.

Another item of note is that the term "Injun Joe" was changed to "Indian Joe", and that appears to have garnered considerably less attention, despite being a similar switch.