Question: Say I've typed out a command in terminal 'mv \*.jpg ..\photos' and as I'm typing realize I no longer want to execute this command at all. I want to just delete the entire statement. I don't want to clear the entire screen or delete any bash history I just want to abort the current line and erase it.

Is there a keyboard shortcut or do I have to actually delete each character?

Answer: 
Assuming you're in bash, use `Ctrl` + `U`.
Many programs that wait for you to type a command line and then execute that line, including bash, take `Ctrl`+`C` to mean “Abort the current task and go back to the main prompt”.

A few programs, including bash, take `Ctrl`+`U`([Clear command from terminal in OS X](https://superuser.com/questions/192490/clear-command-from-terminal-in-os-x/192492#192492)) to mean “erase the beginning of the line, up to the cursor” (or “erase the whole line”).

In bash, observable differences between `Ctrl`+`C` and `Ctrl`+`U` include:

* You can undo `Ctrl`+`U`, but not `Ctrl`+`C`.
* `Ctrl`+`U` retains the part of the line after the cursor, if any.
* `Ctrl`+`U` erases the affected text from the screen; `Ctrl`+`C` shows a new prompt below the current line.

Sometimes you want to stop typing a command but enter it in the shell history to run later. A useful trick is to put a `#` at the beginning of the line and execute it: since the line is now a comment, it won't do anything. In bash, there is a single-key shortcut: `Alt`+`#`.