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stranger
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OP
stranger
Joined: Mar 2006
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I want to find the word for a person or the action of telling a false statement without trying to mislead someone. The belief of the statement is held by the person passing on the information. Is there such a word?
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jan 2001
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Welcome wordsearcher. There are several ways to describe such a scenario. Suppose Bob has told Jim that all cats are purple, incorrectly, but in the sincere belief that it is so. The most concise way to describe this would be to say "Bob erroneously told Jim that all cats are purple." I don't know of a verb that specifically means to unintentionally say something untrue.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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misspeak
As used by late-century pols
dalehileman
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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Wait, I do know of the word misspeak!
I guess I misspoke when I said I knew of no such word.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2000
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Misspeak to me means something different. If I mistakenly say that A is true when I know that A is untrue, and if that mistake is simply a mistake, that's a misspeaking. But if I say that A is true when I know that A is untrue and I am trying to hoodwink you, that's nothing more nor less than a lie.
But wordsearcher is looking for a word that describes a person who says wrongly that A is true and sincerely believes it, even though A is not true. IMHO misspeak doesn't do that.
TEd
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veteran
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veteran
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I agree with Ted regarding the usage of "misspeak."
We have a lot of nuanced ways to say that a person is lying, but fewer ways of conveying that the person speaking is simply mistaken or deluded. If no simpler term is found, you might try some variation of one of these phrases:
perpetuating a myth
spreading an urban legend
disseminating a falsehood
expressing a delusion
promulgating an unexamined (or erroneous) belief
There would be some utility for me in such a term since I've had many occasions to use more awkward phrases myself.
"I have finally come to understand that most people who reject [the theory of] evolution do so not because they are particularly stupid or because they are lying, but because what they *know* about the subject amounts to little more than barbershop gossip."
Last edited by TheFallibleFiend; 03/23/06 04:01 PM.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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delusional? Peggy came up with that, and while it has some baggage with it about mental state, a person who is self-deluded might well make such a statement. Dictionary.com says that a delusion is a false belief or opinion: labored under the delusion that success was at hand.
And would someone PLEASE tell me where my Roget's is? I have frisked all the usual suspects (hiding places in this case) and cannot find it!
TEd
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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> Roget you rang? 
formerly known as etaoin...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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he doesn't look a thing like me.
formerly known as etaoin...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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I think I prefer "mistaken" to "delusional" because the second does carry the impression of mental unfitness.
Somebody who is mistaken is not intentionally so. When that person passes on information, they are not trying to mislead someone because they honestly believe they are telling the truth.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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And would someone PLEASE tell me where my Roget's is? Look under the box on the bench.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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Last I heard, it was under my glasses.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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It's not in the boxes of books you sent me. Where's the last place you remember seeing it? 
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member
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member
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I'll bet Ted remembers last seeing his Roget's in his hands, wide open. but that's just an UNINFORMED (probably MISINFORMED) belief.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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She correctly spelled "mumpsimus"--a person who persists in a mistaken expression or belief....--AP
dalehileman
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newbie
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newbie
Joined: Apr 2006
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Well fact can be true and untrue. In todays world, most people consider somthing true a fact. Which ironically is of course a false fact. I see alot of legal people will state somthing untrue with "false factual statement." I would add a "'s" if the person was a total believer in false facts.
Also here is a excerpt from synonym.com: "delusive, false -- (inappropriate to reality or facts; "delusive faith in a wonder drug"; "delusive expectations"; "false hopes")"
So it could work as in: "He delusively chose A."
~Ari
I'm not that smart, but I might be right. 
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