Question

A 'slip of the tongue' means something said ______________.

• A. wrongly by chance
• B. accidentally
• C. without giving proper thought
• D. to hurt another person

Answer 1

The correct option is B accidentally

An idiomatic expression is a set of words that have a meaning different from the meaning of the individual words.

Option B: 'A slip of tongue' means 'to say something by accident when you intended to say something else'.

Hence 'accidentally' completes the meaning of the expression and option is correct.

Option A: 'Wrongly by chance' is an incorrect phrase by itself. 'Wrongly' means 'incorrect' and 'by chance' refers to an accident.

The phrase sounds a bit strange, hence it's not a suitable option.

Option C: This phrase 'without giving thought' sounds careless rather than unintentional'.

Option D: This phrase 'to hurt another person' sounds intentional, the opposite of what the given expression means.

Hence options A, C and D are wrong.