the wrong end of the stick
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
Not the true facts; a distorted version. To have got hold of the wrong end of the stick is to have mis- understood the story.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “the wrong end of the stick” mean?
Not the true facts; a distorted version. To have got hold of the wrong end of the stick is to have mis- understood the story.
Is “the wrong end of the stick” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.