wrong or incorrect?

Question

My shipping address was (wrong/incorrect).   In this sentence, which is better, wrong or correct?

BarbaraPA · Accepted Answer

For no good reason at all, I prefer "incorrect."

Anonymous · Answer

Grammar GeekFor no good reason at all, I prefer "incorrect."

Maybe, in this case, 'my shipping address was wrong.' can give an impression that the recipient is rude.
What do you think?

BarbaraPA · Answer

Well, my conflict comes from the fact that I see nothing wrong with "The package had the wrong address" but I don't like "The address was wrong."

Glacierlily · Answer

"Wrong" is traditionally used to mean something is morally good or right - or that judgement is correct or inaccurate. It was used to mean an "unjust action". For example, it is used when someone is breaking the law.

"Incorrect" is used to point out something is factually wrong or inaccurate. If something is false it is incorrect. On a business document you would inform the company your address is "incorrect".

They may seem similar but their meanings and connotations are different.

Connotation refers to a word's set of attributes that create the word's meaning. They do not have the same attributes.

Anonymous · Answer

How about 'I called the wrong number.'.?

In this case, the 'wrong' seems to have very little to do with morality.

That's why I thought it's OK to say 'the address is wrong.',
but I'm not native and will respect native teachers' opinions.

Glacierlily · Answer

Wrong can be used in either context and your meaning will be clear. I wouldn't worry about the usage unless you're planning on writing a novel or technical manual. Wrong and incorrect are pretty much interchangeable, you will not sound rude.

I'll try to explain why a native English speaker would prefer one over the other. The explanation for this can get a bit complicated. It has to do with the word's traditional usage. Style and history. A native English speaker will have picked it up through hearing it spoken or written in this style, even if they haven't studied entymology (history of words in language).

Wrong is from Old English (about 600 years ago) it is used in many classical literatures with stories that contain morale lessons. During the evolution of modern English (200 years ago) it gained more general use.

Since "wrong" is less formal, you will encounter it in everyday speech more often. It is perfectly ok to say:
"My address is wrong."
"I called the wrong number."
"The answer is wrong."
"You are going the wrong way."

Incorrect is slightly more formal because of its Latin origin. Incorrectus - in (not), correctus (correct). You will see it used in legal, business, or science documents. It is generally used more by people who are well-educated or who have studied etymology.

Here are some examples of sentences where an English speaker would choose to use incorrect:
"This is the result of incorrect gamma interpretation." - Technical manual
"Man torches woman's clinic on the incorrect assumption that they perform abortions." - Newspaper headline
"It purports to debunk what it describes as the historically incorrect myths propagated by revisionist historians." - Book review
"Most of it has turned out to be incorrect," a diplomat at the IAEA with detailed knowledge of the agency's investigations said." -Newspaper article

If you are ever unsure about a word's usage you can get clues from an etymology dictionary (there are a few online). Although, really, this level of debate on a word usage is considered university level. Native English speakers will hear it and tell you they think it sounds better but unless they have studied etymology or have a degree in English they may not be able to tell you why.

Anonymous · Answer

Glacierlily, thank you for your explanation and advice.
I also agree this kind of argument requires expertise.
First, I'll consult my English-English dictionary which details subtle differences between two similar words.
Second, I'll visit the library and borrow some books on the history of the English language.

Slide cobra · Answer

In the sense of "factually wrong" wrong and incorrect and now synonymous. Wrong is from Old English and incorrect is from Middle English.

The distinction in the way a modern English speaker uses the terms arises from the etymology: wrong has always had the connotation of "bad" or "immoral" whereas incorrect first meant "not in good style" and only later came to mean "inaccurate", "factually wrong".

If you intend to be direct use "wrong". If you want to save someone's feelings use "incorrect".

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