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Giulia Capaldi
Differences between amiss and wrong
Dear all, I need your help! I can't figure out the difference between amiss and wrong.
In these following sentences, are they interchangeable?
Their plans went amiss when Peter became ill.
Their plans went wrong when Peter became ill.
Thank you!!
Giulia
May 1, 2020 5:18 PM
Answers · 2
Hello Giulia!
That that's not quite the right use of 'amiss', although it is very close. You would say something "was" amiss rather than that it "went" amiss. The word you probably want is "awry":
Their plans went awry when Peter became ill.
(That does have the exact same meaning as "wrong", to my ear.)
"Go amiss" does exist, but has a slightly different meaning. It's only ever used in the negative: "A nice pint wouldn't go amiss". This means that the thing wouldn't be unpleasant.
I should say this is a very "nice" point and that, if you are worrying about things like this, then your English must be pretty tip-top.
May 1, 2020
Ciao Giulia! 'Amiss', is more like, things went wrong, but to no particular fault of someone, like a mistake. When you say something went 'wrong', it implies it is due to someone/something's fault. Hope that helps!
May 1, 2020
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Giulia Capaldi
Language Skills
Arabic, English, French, German, Italian, Spanish
Learning Language
English, German, Spanish
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