📖 Meaning
To be completely and utterly wrong; a grave mistake of the highest degree. The phrase emphasizes that an error is so extreme that there is no room for doubt or mitigation.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase appears in the Qing dynasty novel 'Nie Hai Hua' (孽海花) by Zeng Pu, specifically in Chapter 25, where a character reflects on a past judgment and concludes, 'Looking back now, it was truly a great and special wrong.' The expression gained currency as a forceful way to emphasize the magnitude of an error. Modern writer Zou Taofen used it in his autobiographical work 'Jing Li' (经历), Chapter 50, to stress a critical misconception. It remains a common phrase for emphatically declaring someone's view or action to be entirely mistaken.
💡 Example Usage
如果你以为放弃了努力就能换来轻松，那真是大错特错了。
If you think giving up effort will buy you an easy life, you are completely and utterly mistaken.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 大错特错
- Pinyin: dà cuò tè cuò
- Literal Translation: big, wrong, special, wrong
- Category: Logic
- Characters: 4