Word Confusion: Misconception vs Misnomer vs Mistake

Posted September 24, 2019 by kddidit in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

Revised as of
19 Jan 2023

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It’s all a mistake. One huge mistake. A mistake that can be broken down into a specific category that includes those misleading misnomers. As for those thoughtless misconceptions . . . Well, we’ll just have to give the latter some thought.

Did you know that french fries is a misnomer? That they were first invented in Belgium and should be called belgian fries? Yep, it’s one heck of a misconception, but at least it’s not a mistake, lol.

What it comes down to is that a:

Misconception is an opinion formed from a poor understanding of the topic
Misnomer is a particular kind of mistake in labelling
Mistake is just generally wrong

Word Confusions . . .

. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.

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Misconception	Misnomer	Mistake
What If My Whole Life is a Lie? by Meme Binge is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via Flickr. — What a horrible misconception that would be!	Scale of Justice is a derivative work modified by Producer (from <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scale_of_justice_gold.jpg>) and is in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. — The way criminals and victims are treated these days, I’m beginning to think “justice” is a misnomer.	The Four Capital Mistakes of Open Source by opensource.com is under the CC BY-SA 2.0 license, via Flickr.
Part of Grammar:
Noun Plural: misconceptions	Noun Plural: misnomers	Noun; Verb, intransitive & transitive Plural for the noun: mistakes Gerund: mistaking Third person present verb: mistakes Past tense: mistook Past participle: mistaken Present participle: mistaking
Faulty thinking or understanding A view or opinion that is incorrect because it is based on faulty thinking or understanding A wrong idea Mistaken notion or belief	The use of a term that is misleading A wrong, misapplied, inappropriate, or inaccurate name or designation A wrong or inaccurate use of a name or term A name that gives a misleading perception	Just plain wrong Noun: An action or judgment that is misguided or wrong Something, especially a word, figure, or fact, which is not correct An inaccuracy Verb, intransitive: To be in error Verb, transitive: Be wrong about Misunderstand Misinterpret [mistake someone/something for] Wrongly identify someone or something as
Examples:
There are a number of public misconceptions about antibiotic use. There are several common misconceptions about the theory of relativity. You’re obviously under the misconception that I care about your problems. He thought that a misconception meant becoming pregnant with a girl. A lot of the original points of view were based on misconceptions about the other side’s point of view. But the idea that people oppose media intrusion is based on misconceptions that are rarely challenged. He knew everything that every one else had misconceptions about or misconstrued. Clarke is always at pains to point out errors and misconceptions in earlier writings, and he does so convincingly.	Morning sickness is a misnomer for many women, since the nausea can occur any time during the day. “Most other stay-at-home moms will probably agree that our job title is a misnomer. We practically live in our minivans” (Fayetteville Observer). Chinese checkers is nothing to do with China. Why do we call it a driveway when all we do is park on it? I always thought that was just a cute name . . . or a misnomer, like Pennsylvania Dutch. To call this “neighborhood policing” would be a misnomer. Unfortunately, this infamous misnomer was only the first of a series of mistakes made by the first foreigner to set eyes on the place: Hiram Bingham. In the post-modern context, however, it would be a misnomer to use family in this sense. Describing Ivan Markovic’s designs as lights is a bit of a misnomer.	Noun: Coming here was a mistake. She made the mistake of thinking they were important. It was just a couple of spelling mistakes, jeez. It’s a bad business and no mistake. She’d left her purse at home by mistake. My mistake. Verb, intransitive: I was mistaken. Hayfever is often mistaken for a summer cold. “You mistook when you thought I laughed at you” (Hardy). Verb, transitive: Because I was inexperienced, I mistook the nature of our relationship. I mistook him for the mayor. She thought he’d mistaken her for someone else. There was no mistaking her sincerity.
Derivatives:
Adjective: misconceived Noun: misconceiver Verb: misconceive		Adjective: mistakable, mistaken Adverb: mistakably, mistakenly Noun: mistakenness
History of the Word:
First recorded in 1655–65, as mis- + conception.	Late Middle English from the Anglo-Norman French, which is from the Old French verb mesnommer, from mes-	Late Middle English (as a verb) is from the Old Norse mistaka meaning take in error, which was probably influenced by the Old French mesprendre.

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.

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