wrong number
38
2.0
- noun
:
número equivocado
- When she answered the phone, the stranger apologized and said, "You have the wrong number."
- call the wrong number
- dial the wrong number
- get a wrong number
I mean, I'm trying to say if I give you your phone and your phone has a perfect phone app on it, if you type the wrong number, you're going to call the wrong person.
- I mean, I'm trying to say if I give you your phone and your phone has a perfect phone app on it, if you type the wrong number, you're going to call the wrong person.
Examples
-
Before I could finish my thought, the woman said, "I think you've got the wrong number, mister."
Fiction book (1991) -
Maybe you've got the wrong number.
-
No, uh, you got the wrong number.
-
Uh, I think I have the wrong number.
-
I think you have the wrong number.
-
You have the wrong number, partner,
-
"You gave me the wrong number," he said.
Fiction book (1991) -
Harris told him he had the wrong number.
Fiction book (2000) -
I think you've got the wrong number.
-
At first, he thought he had dialed the wrong number.
Fiction book (1991)
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'wrong' (incorrect) modifies 'number' (a telephone identifier), so a B1 learner who knows both words can infer it refers to an incorrect or unintended telephone number. This adjective+noun pattern is common and cross-linguistically transparent in the context of phone calls, making the MWE readily understandable from its parts.
Etymology
Wrong number comes from old telephone calls: if you dial a wrong number, you reach someone you did not mean to call. So, it means 'a telephone number that is not the one intended'.