Newsgroup: it.cultura.linguistica.inglese
Titolo: "I'm wrong" and  "I'm mistaken"

What's the difference?
The former sounds to me more informal and friendly (I often see it in
NGs), the latter more formal or in higher social contexts, e.g. I think
I saw it in some books...
Am I wrong or mistaken? :-)

  the latter more formal or in higher social contexts, e.g. I think
...the latter more formal or USED in higher social contexts

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No and No.
You've hit the nail on the head.
-- 
Joey DoWop Dee
Remember: It is To Laugh.

 NGs), the latter more formal or in higher social contexts, e.g. I think
e.g = ?
Scusami ma non sono bravo con le abbreviazioni ;-))))

 wrote:
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For me there's NO real difference between the two ways of saying that
someone is wrong or mistaken ;-)
Ciao!

 wrote in message
news:1180881286.6...@k79g2000hse.googlegroups.com...
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I was wrong in calling him a Fascist when I had no idea what his politics
were.
I was mistaken when I identified him as a Fascist, when it was his brother I
had in mind.
Joe from Massachusetts

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Wrong e mistaken non sono intercambiabili. Tu hai parlato di quello
che si chiama una differenza di register. Ma wrong, come dagli esempi
di Joe, puo' indicare anche l'errore morale: it's wrong to steal, e
non it's mistaken to steal. Questo significato e' implicito nella
frase (comunissima) to know right from wrong. Mistake e' solo un
errore, wrong puo' essere sia un errore (the wrong answer) che un
giudizio morale (violence is wrong).
C.

di Joe, puo' indicare anche l'errore morale...
Tutto giusto. Per tornare alla domanda pratica, però, tra I'm wrong e
I'm mistaken c'è la stessa differenza che in italiano c'è tra "Ho
torto", "Sono in torto", e "Mi sono sbagliato".
Ciao,
-- 
Isa
Work like you don't need money,
Love like you've never been hurt,
And dance like no one's watching
http://web.tiscali.it/alfabeto_auschwitz/index.htm

 And dance like no one's watching
Eat and drink like there's no tomorrow.
Cynthia the philosophy major

 giudizio morale (violence is wrong).
"It's fortunate that I was mistaken, for I was wrong."
(...said a man who pressed the coffee button instead of the 
autodestruction button :-) ).
Kiuhnm

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The OP's question was whether or not "I'm wrong" and "I'm mistaken" are 
synonymous. Examples using impersonal structures are different.
Even Joe's examples are interchangeable; you will hear both words used in 
both examples.
Hairs are being split here.
-- 
Joey DoWop Dee
Remember: It is To Laugh.
Il mio gatto
http://tinyurl.com/2a5u8b

 Eat and drink like there's no tomorrow.
There's no need to pretend...if you eat and drink like mad, no tomorrow 
is granted :-)
Tabhall

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You're getting mighty serious for someone who constantly reminds
people to laugh. And I mean it in the sense of Italian serioso, not
serio (these two are not interchangeable either).
This is not hair-splitting. The differences are present even in
personal usage (with personal pronouns).
He was mistaken when he implied that personal usage of wrong and
mistaken are interchangeable.
He was wrong to get all territorial on the ng.
You could use wrong in example one, but not vice-versa.
C.

 He was wrong to get all territorial on the ng.
I'm sorry you feel that way. I didn't think that expressing my opinion based 
on the common usage where I live would be considered "getting territorial."
And as for getting serious, my sig is there to remind folks that everything I 
post can be taken with a smiley.
I'm in the wrong place here, I guess.
-- 
Joey DoWop Dee
Remember: It is To Laugh.
Il mio gatto
http://tinyurl.com/2a5u8b

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This is not the common usage where you live, and it is not an opinion.
Google the phrases "he was wrong to lie" and "he was wrong to steal",
including the quotation marks. Plenty of hits. Google "he was mistaken
to lie" and "he was mistaken to steal". Not one hit. Quod erat
demonstrandum.
If you google "he was wrong" you will find such instances as John
Edwards saying he was wrong on Iraq. You will also find a book by the
infamous Jim Bakker called I was wrong. In neither case could they
have said, I was mistaken.
You're not in the wrong place here. You make a significant
contribution. But you are wrong not to admit that you are mistaken
(NOT you are mistaken not to admit you are mistaken).
I hope your cat is a gatta. Or else you guys will have territorial
issues. Imagine the pee-fest. (Remember: it is to laugh- non predicare
bene e razzolare male).
C.

 He was wrong to get all territorial on the ng.
To the group:
I apologize if, as it's been implied, I've come across as getting 
territorial.
It won't happen again.
-- 
Joey DoWop Dee
Remember: It is To Laugh.
Il mio gatto
http://tinyurl.com/2a5u8b

 Joey DoWop Dee
It's been implied? It hasn't been implied. It has been said, albeit in
a humorous manner. And no need to use the passive form. Cynthia said
it. And why apologize to the group? How about admitting to ME that you
were wrong, since you directly contradicted me in a burst of
oneupmanship and accused me of hair-splitting, whereas you were
obviously wrong on both counts.  And mistaken. Is this ng about
providing Italians with some reliable guidance on the English language
or about wanting to play the expert? Yours does not come off as a
sincere apology, but as a veiled call for "support" and for taking
your side. Which is all ridiculous. As the linguistic matter has been
resolved, I will not continue with this thread.
C.

 wrote in message 
news:1181162122.3...@d30g2000prg.googlegroups.com...
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Really ? The linguistic matter as posed by the OP was the equivalence or 
otherwise of the simple sentences 'I'm wrong' and 'I'm mistaken' . Whilst in 
other grammatical contexts it is true that 'wrong' may have a meaning which 
'mistaken' cannot have , I don't think I have ever in my life heard someone 
assert simply 'I'm wrong' with the intention of acknowledging a moral 
deficit or delinquency. 'I was wrong' is , of course , an entirely different 
matter . In normal English usage the assertions 'I'm wrong' and 'I'm 
mistaken' are in my view entirely interchangeable .
Mike 

 - Show quoted text -
The reason you have never in your life heard anyone assert I'm wrong
with the intention of acknowledging a moral deficit, dumbass, is that
one does not say that one is wrong in the present. A man who is in the
process of stealing doesn't announce: I'm wrong. He may say so later,
usually if he's been caught, often if he's in jail. Some people don't
even say I was wrong (past), such as the above posters.
Th real purpose of this ng being to show off and outdo other posters
and not to provide useful info, it is a total waste of time.
Cynthia

 usually if he's been caught, often if he's in jail.
In tal caso non sarebbe più adeguato "I did wrong?" (chiedo, eh)
-- 
Ciao,
Anna

 and not to provide useful info, it is a total waste of time.
That seems a bit harsh.

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It seems your question got overlooked:
e.g. = Latin exempli gratia  for the sake of an example'
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 have said, I was mistaken.
I've been scratching my head for a couple of days now. I read over your posts 
in this thread many times, and I still don't know what it is that set you 
off.
To address this particular post, I have to ask you a question. Where do you 
get off telling me that "This is not the common usage where you live" and 
even more absurdly that "it is not an opinion."?
You don't have any knowledge of this and no ability to discern what is my 
opinion and what isn't my opinion. I post only my opinions, I've admitted 
that a lot of times here, but they're at least educated and informed 
opinions. The last thing I want to do is mislead someone (especially an 
Italian national) who wants to learn something about everyday English.
Granted, the breadth of my knowledge is limited to American English, mostly 
as it's spoken in the Northeast. After living here (having been born here) 
for 61 years and having studied and taken delight in creative language and 
fiction writing, I don't think I'm out of line in trying to enlighten folks 
on the kinds of English they'll hear in movies, on the streets, read in books 
or engage in in daily conversation here.
You seem to have taken exception to my responses here because you thought I 
was attacking you and commandeering the thread or, in your words, the 
newsgroup. I wasn't and I'm not now, nor will I ever. I'm contributing. You 
are within your rights to disagree with me. As am I, with you. I once 
respected you. I don't make a habit of attacking people I respect.
Let me reiterate: the original post that started this mess concerned the 
expressions "I'm wrong" and "I'm mistaken." Subsequent posts took the 
original expression out of context, and inherently that changed things.
As for googling anything, caveat lector. Google "it don't matter to me" and 
you'll get significantly more responses than you will if you google "it 
doesn't matter to me." Likewise "it ain't rocket science", which provides 
almost as many hits as "it isn't rocket science." Which are grammatically 
correct? The ones with the higher number of hits? Obviously not, in the first 
example, and the second could also be misleading because of the relatively 
high number. QED back at ya. I've cautioned before about using Google for 
that purpose; use it cum grano salis.
And there are a lot of people who were *mistaken* on Iraq. (I'm not one of 
them.)
<sigh>
You said I owe you an apology. I don't and I won't apologize. I *am* sorry 
*for the way you feel*, but I don't accept any responsibility for that.
I really don't know what's happened to you. I thought we had a good 
relationship. I didn't even reprimand you for e-mailing me privately, which 
is in fact a no-no in the absence of prior permission to do so. That was 
because I thought we had a friendly relationship.
I think there must be something else going on in your life. Are you okay?
And finally, again, *to the group*, I apologize to those of you who've been 
exposed to this kind of exchange. It is, though, an interesting study in 
human nature, isn't it?
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 human nature, isn't it?
see above
ciao

 you are young, but you read younger.
What a kind way of telling me I'm immature!
Thank you!  ;-)
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Don't be silly .
Mike 


so 'I'm wrong' = 'I'm mistaken' - exactly the point that Cynthia was calling 
me a 'dumbass' for making , so you're putting your head on the block !
Mike 

 wrote in message
news:5crg2sF...@mid.individual.net...
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In the 1950s Fred Hoyle was an adamant supporter of the ''steady-state"
theory of the universe, while the followers of LeMaītre were equally
convinced of the validity of the "big bang" theory. One of the two factions
had to be mistaken in their belief, however sincere they might be. The
advances in radio astronomy in the late 1960s proved that Hoyle had been
mistaken in his belief. In the 1990s Boyle continued to espouse the "steady
state" theory, but now he was wrong, not merely mistaken.
Joe from Massachusetts