# LaTeX wants a $where there shouldn't be one I have a variable name that I need to include mid-paragraph. The variable is called "oral_read_score". LaTeX seems to think that I meant the "r" and "s" to be subscripts, and gives an error unless I change to $oral_read_score\$, which is not what I want. Is there some option I can use to turn this error off?

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Two possibilities:

\documentclass{article}

\begin{document}

\end{document}


LaTeX reserves the special character _ for math mode subscripts; you can escape this character using \_ for its use in text mode; the second option uses \verb to write the expression verbatim.

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Many solutions in TeX/SX come without explanation. Explaining why yours is the right solution may help save millions of future LaTeX users precious time. – Marc van Dongen Nov 20 '12 at 19:46
@MarcvanDongen I added some remarks. – Gonzalo Medina Nov 20 '12 at 19:51
Thanks. I think this improves the answer. – Marc van Dongen Nov 20 '12 at 19:52

An alternative approach

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{underscore}
\begin{document}