Wrong vs. wrong

[Benjamin Barrett]

In 2004, I reported on "wrong" in a sense like this. Search for "wrong and holla" in the archives for the thread.

Benjamin Barrett
Seattle, WA

On Mar 12, 2013, at 9:19 AM, Jesse Sheidlower <jester at PANIX.COM> wrote:

> I rather like this example of _wrong_ 'factually incorrect' contrasted
> with _wrong_ '(broadly) not right; inappropriate'. From a _Slate_
> article about Bob Woodward's book about John Belushi; someone
> re-reported it and concluded that Woodward got the facts right but
> distorted the details. It's the penultimate sentence:
>
> ---
> The wrongness in Woodward’s reporting is always ever so subtle. SNL
> writer Michael O'Donoghue—who died before I started the book but who
> videotaped an interview with Judy years before—told this story about how
> Belushi loved to mess with him:
>
>  I am very anal-retentive, and John used to come over and just move
>  things around, just move things a couple of inches, drop a paper on the
>  floor, miss an ashtray a little bit until finally he could see me just
>  tensing up. That was his idea of a fine joke. Another joke he used to do
>  was to sit on me.
>
> When put through the Woodward filter, this becomes:
>
>  A compulsively neat person, O’Donoghue was always picking up and
>  straightening his office. Frequently, John came in and destroyed the
>  order in a minute, shifting papers, furniture or pencils or dropping
>  cigarette ashes.
>
> Again, Woodward’s account is not wrong. It’s just...wrong. In his
> version, Belushi is not a prankster but a jerk.
> ---
>
> (From http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2013/03/bob_woodward_and_gene_sperling_what_woodward_s_john_belushi_book_can_tell.single.html)

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