Careful Words

mistake (n.)

mistake (v.)

  There is no mistake; there has been no mistake; and there shall be no mistake.

Duke Of Wellington (1769-1852): Letter to Mr. Huskisson.

  I mean you lie—under a mistake.

Jonathan Swift (1667-1745): Polite Conversation. Dialogue i.

You lie—under a mistake,

For this is the most civil sort of lie

That can be given to a man's face. I now

Say what I think.

Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822): Translation of Calderon's Magico Prodigioso. Scene i.