Getting the error "Missing $ inserted" in LaTeX

Question

I try to write the following in latex:

\begin{itemize}
    \item \textbf{insert(element|text)} inserts the element or text passed at the start of the selection.
    \item \textbf{insert_after(element|text)} inserts the element or text passed at the end of the selection.
    \item \textbf{replace(element|text)} replaces the selection with the passed text/element.
    \item \textbf{delete()} deletes the selected text.
    \item \textbf{annotate(name,value)} annotates the selected text with the passed name and value-pair. This can either be a hidden meta-data about the selection, or can alter the visible appearance.
    \item \textbf{clear_annotation()} removes any annotation for this specific selection.
    \item \textbf{update_element(value)} performs an update of the element at the selection with the passed value.
\end{itemize}

For some reason, I get a bunch of errors. I think there is something with the use of the word "insert". I get errors like "Missing $ inserted", so it seems like the parses tries to fix some "errors" on my parts. Do I need to escape words like "insert", how do I do that?

Answer 1

The "Missing $ inserted" is probably caused by the underscores and bars. These characters in LaTeX have special meaning in math mode (which is delimited by $ characters). Try escaping them; e.g. update\_element instead of update_element.

However, if you're trying to display code, a better solution would be to use the \verb command, which will typeset the text in a monospaced font and will automatically handle underscores and bars correctly (no need to escape them with \).