a pet phrase before making a correction?

[yanx]

Hi,

What would the word (s) possibly be before people make a correction?

For example:
1. I ran 5,000 kilometers today, oh sorry, () 5,000 km (), it should be 5,000 meters. haha...
2. I spent 2,000 yuan for that laptop, oh, () 2,000 yuan (), should be 2,000 dollars...

I know English should also have the same colloquial expression, please kindly advise, I have no idea the position of the missing words, so i put brackets before or after the key words.
(of course "not ..." is definitely not the anwser I'd like to hear)

Thanks!

 

[iKitty]

NOT A TEACHER

I think you mean something like:

1. I ran 5000 kilometres today – oh sorry, not 5000 kilometres, I meant 5000 metres!
2. I spent 2000 yuan on that laptop – oh sorry, not 2000 yuan, I meant 2000 dollars!

The separator commas you added in the figures 5,000 and 2,000 are perfectly correct, but there are a lot of commas in the two sentences and I feel they read a little more easily without the separators.

N.b. Metres is the UK English spelling – meters is fine in other forms of English.

 

[yanx]

NOT A TEACHER

I think you mean something like:

1. I ran 5000 kilometres today – oh sorry, not 5000 kilometres, I meant 5000 metres!
2. I spent 2000 yuan on that laptop – oh sorry, not 2000 yuan, I meant 2000 dollars!

The separator commas you added in the figures 5,000 and 2,000 are perfectly correct, but there are a lot of commas in the two sentences and I feel they read a little more easily without the separators.

N.b. Metres is the UK English spelling – meters is fine in other forms of English.

Thanks, but maybe you did not read the latter part of the question, I added that 'not 5000 kilometres or not 2000 yuan' is not the answer for me, because I know how to construct a negative form of a sentence.. There should be a colloquial expression for correction, or to be specific, before the correction.. But if there indeed has no such expression in English, your answer would be helpful to me..

 

[5jj]

'Not' is the natural word.

 

[yanx]

'Not' is the natural word.

I just thought there should be an English equivalent for this Chinese pet phrase, but seems nobody can tell me immediately, perhaps you are right 5JJ. But if someone has any idea,please advise.. thanks again!

 

[Tdol]

There are different ways of making the correction, but not is the correct word- That's dollars not yuan, etc.

 

[emsr2d2]

I just thought there should be an English equivalent for this Chinese pet phrase, but seems nobody can tell me immediately, perhaps you are right 5JJ. But if someone has any idea,please advise.. thanks again!

I don't know what you mean by an English equivalent for the pet phrase. Is the Chinese translation not:

I ran 5000 km today. Oh, sorry, not 5000km, I meant 5000 metres, of course!

I thought you just wanted the word that goes in the gap between "sorry" and "5,000 km", and that word is "not".

 

[yanx]

I don't know what you mean by an English equivalent for the pet phrase. Is the Chinese translation not:

I ran 5000 km today. Oh, sorry, not 5000km, I meant 5000 metres, of course!

I thought you just wanted the word that goes in the gap between "sorry" and "5,000 km", and that word is "not".

No, the Chinese translation isn't "not". What I wanted say in my question was : you should have a feeling that you say to yourself how could I say it wrong.. The part I would like to ask in my question is generally something you say to yourself with that feeling. Hopefully I've made myself clear.

Thanks!!!

 

[5jj]

I might say one of a number of things to myself if I say something that needs to be corrected immediately. Most of them are unprintable.

 

[Barb_D]

Do you mean something like "Oh, silly me! Of course it's not 5,000 kilometers. It's 5,000 meters."

A: I ran 5,000 kilometers to day.
B: What??
A: Oh, my bad. // Oops! // Oh, silly me! // Oh goodness! I meant 5,000 meters, of course!
B: That's more like it!

There are any number of things you could say there. I can't imagine a lumberjack would say "Silly me." I can't imagine an elderly man saying "My bad."


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[emsr2d2]

All the phrases we've given you are possible things that we might say aloud before correcting ourselves, but if you're looking for something that we might all say silently to ourselves in our heads, then there's isn't anything.

 

[yanx]

Do you mean something like "Oh, silly me! Of course it's not 5,000 kilometers. It's 5,000 meters."​

A: I ran 5,000 kilometers to day.
B: What??
A: Oh, my bad. // Oops! // Oh, silly me! // Oh goodness! I meant 5,000 meters, of course!
B: That's more like it!​

There are any number of things you could say there. I can't imagine a lumberjack would say "Silly me." I can't imagine an elderly man saying "My bad."​

Thanks very much! That helps..:up: