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Stand corrected:

Agree that one was wrong, as in I stand corrected—we did go to Finland in 1985.

This set phrase is quite old and dates back to the mid-17th century according di the AHD:

This idiom was first recorded in John Dryden's The Maiden Queen (1668): “I stand corrected, and myself reprove.”

Stand has many connotations as etymonline notes which have evolved or changed through the centuries:

Old English standan "occupy a place; stand firm; congeal; stay, continue, abide; be valid, be, exist, take place; oppose, resist attack”

To my mind the expression conveys the image of standing (on one’s feet) admitting that one is wrong (about something).

What was the connotation that the term had when was first used and that it most likely still retains nowadays?

user 66974
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2 Answers2

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stand

What was the connotation that the term had when was first used and that it most likely still retains nowadays?

The sense of being in a state/condition or existing appears to be the connotation(s) used in I stand corrected.

From OED, to stand

To be or remain in the specified condition; e.g. to stand committed, indebted, pledged. Also with adjective of state or condition, e.g. to stand free, to stand alone (in an opinion, a contest, course of action, etc.); to stand mute (see mute adj. 1). Usually with reference to a condition resulting from an engagement or a decision, or ascertained by survey of a situation. I stand corrected: I accept or acknowledge the correction; so I stand reproved.

user 66974
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  • So is it like expressing an opinion. e.g. where do you stand on this issue? I stand A(corrected). – liyuan Dec 26 '20 at 07:14
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stand has been used as an auxiliary, which can still be seen occasionally in "I stand cooking". So it might just mean "I am". This also appears in Dutch, and similarly even in Latin so it might appear somewhat archaic.

However, the expression has a certain connotation, "I have to admit that was wrong", so a bit more of an explanation would be needed.

I don't think we will find it in German, but I always like to note: We say "I understand" so maybe there's a closer connection of "stand" to having gained a correct understanding. German has equivalently "verstehen", but quite differently "unterstehen" (to desist), "unter-stellen" (to stand below, to find shelter from rain, also figuratively for hierarchy) and "unterstellen" (to make assumptions, allegations). Latin "sum" simply means "I am" (which is difficult to compare with "assume"). Still, Latin comes pretty close with "teneo" (I hold, grasp, at-tain) if we assume an initial s- that had been irregularly lost, as happened quite often. So in that sense, we have a sense of "I take it, I hold, I assume that is correct and I wasn't". German also has "anerkennen" (acknowledge), "anerkannt" (well recognized, known), where "an-er-" would appear to be two prepositive prefixes, which is rather unusual (OK that's a weak argument, but funny still), which does rhyme with "un'er-" (e.g. in Cockney; y'un'erstand?).

Really weird though is Ger. "gestehen" (admit), "Geständnis" (confession). The prefix "ge-" would be equivalent to old English "y-" (e.g. "enough", "yclept"), which has been largely dropped, though. So it's possible that this was once ystand (which would be especially prone to elision in "I ystand"). That should be fairly easy to check in old sources (older than gbooks; the uses they find are largely religious "My Lord, I stand corrected"), whether as "I ystand corrected", which doesn't appear to make a ton of sense to me, or in any other way. "gestehen" might be comparable to "gestanden" (grown up, eventually well recognized) and to "eingestehen" (confess; synonym "bekennen"). Add to that, "the stand" is literally the seat in which to confess.

Conclusion

Given "Geständnis" and the Latin associations, I suppose this specific idiom was carried on through religious practices.

Edit: Anstand means decency, or policy (archaic), though in terms of nobility and "Ständegesellschaft" (rank society), it might mean "good standing", I guess. In that sense, I stand corrected might be an allusion to rank. Which doesn't contradict the allusio to "gestehen" if it means assuming rank, becoming honest.

But why stand? Well, consider "Stellung, Einstellung" (position, alignment), and that "Stunde" (hour) could only come from "Sonnen-Stand" (sun altitude) and that Germans stand their clocks, i.e. adjust the time (die Uhr stellen). Since stellen and stand are so highly yielding, I could go on and on.

vectory
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  • In English clocks can "stand" themselves as in Rupert Brooke's The Old Vicarage, Grantchester "Stands the Church clock at ten to three..." although we usually "set" them rather than "stand" them. – BoldBen Jan 28 '19 at 13:19
  • This analysis is completely wrong grammatically: stand is the main verb, not an auxiliary, and corrected is an adjective. Consider I stand firm. – Peter Shor Mar 05 '19 at 11:34
  • @PeterShor: Thanks for the comment. The categorization of participle constructions (corrected) is trife. Hence I don't completely agree with you. I might mean e.g. to be, I am late were an auxhillary. I hope that helps understanding. Its used for little more than syntax. Verbs require adverbial phrases (I stand firmly) or prepositions in most other cases, isn't it? I wasn't talking about modern standard English as much as a possible origin, anyhow. I don't know enough about syntax, but I don't see a better answer, since the OED def could well derive from phrases like this one. – vectory Mar 05 '19 at 19:32
  • The verb stand can take adjectives when used in the OP's sense. I stand firm is perfectly good English. See dictionary and another dictionary. For another example, consider stand ready. Nobody stands readily. – Peter Shor Mar 07 '19 at 13:02
  • @PeterShort participles are often deemed adjective like, so your argument is detriment to my answer, but still, participles are considered finite word forms and so stand could be deemed an auxiliary here. It would probably help if I had a link ready for the alleged auxiliary usage, that I only saw noted once in passing. Anyway, "stand firm" is an interesting input I hadn't considered. Greek σταθερός (statherós) "firm" shows that the idiom is deeply connected to standing; and we note so for "-rect, errect" etc., too. However, "firm" is a Latin loan, too ... – vectory Mar 07 '19 at 17:39
  • ... and that relates to the other part of my answer that doesn't rely on the analysis of a stativ verb (pun intended), albeit I had buried that under a bunch of mambo jambo. After all, you are correct that "firm" doesn't appear as a finite verb, though "to firm" has an existence. – vectory Mar 07 '19 at 17:41
  • More for teneo, "I hold, that ...", etc. we see firm "from the root *dʰer- (“to hold”)". I'd venture a guess that it's related to French fermer "to close"; Thus affirming a comparison to German "feststehen" (to be fact; lit. to stand firm) and "feststellen" (to determine a fact), and also the whole paradigm around schließen (to close, conclude): "entschlossen" (decidedly, willing, standing firmly against), a participle of the verb "entschließen" (to decide), probably calques, also cp. Schulterschluss (fig. cooperative formation; lit. standing shoulder to shoulder); festhalten ... – vectory Mar 07 '19 at 17:56
  • I don't know how I could miss Ger. richtig stellen" (to set correct), "Richtigstellung" (corrective editorial). However, there is no "richtig stehen", except for the anatomic, locative sense, more often richtig hinstellen* (to set-up right). Now hin- might just relate somewhat to in and ein, thus reminding of Einstellung; einstellen (state of mind, opinion; to set up), and perhaps entschluss, viz en- (reasonable if that's from anglonormen) with a side of end, as ent- has a ring of out, cp.aussenden, entsenden, einsenden, or paradoxically großes Entsetzen setzte ein. – vectory Mar 07 '19 at 18:07
  • Notably, there's the idiom einen Entschluss fassen "to take a decision", which is firmly, though not exclusively, used in legalese. It has a side of verfassen "to compose (writing)". That connects it to Latin more likely than not. Alas, I don't know enough Latin. Getting back to corrected, note that co- is aking to German ge- used for building paste tense forms, including past participle. – vectory Mar 07 '19 at 18:23
  • Thus compare gerichtet "judged", which is the sense for "stand corrected" I was trying to propose. Cp further Gericht "the court, the judges" (also a prepared meal), richten "to speak law", hinrichten "to execute a death sentence", and less topical Richtung "direction, ausrichten* "to direct, orientate: to transmit a message", einrichten "to set up, to arrange", Vorrichtung "contraption, preparation", zurichten "to finish, beat up", etc.. and Rex "ruler" (also, IMHO, compare riechen "to smell, find", Riecher "nose" for the dog name "Rex"). Sorry for the lot of hot air. – vectory Mar 07 '19 at 18:25