not even wrong
1
9.9
- idiom
- Formal
:
ni siquiera es incorrecto
- Her claims about the experiment were dismissed as not even wrong because they lacked any basis in facts.
But then on the other hand, it's not even wrong because people won't admit that it's wrong.
- But then on the other hand, it's not even wrong because people won't admit that it's wrong.
Examples
-
If Fred, or anyone, can point us to a consistent modification on Noether that would conserve any property such that we could at least retain the explanatory power of symmetry, then only would Mwi even rise to a not even wrong stature.
Blog text (30) -
SWK, what you write is not even wrong.
Blog text (8) -
But then on the other hand, it's not even wrong because people won't admit that it's wrong.
-
No, Louis, it means he is not even wrong, as Richard Feynman always used to say.
Blog text (16) -
It's what pop-sci writers call "not even wrong."
Blog text (5) -
Wow, Tudza, that wasn't even wrong.
Blog text (19) -
It's not even wrong.
Blog text (30) -
It is clear from the updates to the original post that Pielke the Elder's goal is to be "not even wrong."
Blog text (30) -
Many of the arguments brought forth in the debate were so flawed that they were considered not even wrong.
-
When the scientist presented his theory, it was so illogical that it was labeled not even wrong by his peers.
Antonyms
How Valid
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'so fundamentally flawed or meaningless that it cannot be considered correct or incorrect' is not derivable from the literal parts: a B1 learner knowing 'not', 'even', and 'wrong' would likely parse it as a simple negation or intensification (e.g. 'not wrong' or 'even wrong') and miss the meta-level, technical critique. This is a specialized, figurative/idiomatic usage that cannot be predicted from the constituents, so it is opaque to learners.
Etymology
Not even wrong comes from the scientist Wolfgang Pauli, who used it to reject ideas that could not be tested. He meant such ideas were so unclear they could not even be called 'wrong', so today the phrase means something is meaningless or cannot be part of a real argument.