眼鏡めがね違ちがい

め

が

ね

ち

が

い

Meanings

1

noun

misjudgment; mistaken choice

Literally 'wrong glasses'; used for picking the wrong person or thing because of a misjudgment, often in a self-deprecating or humorous way.

彼かれをリーダーに選えらんだのは眼鏡めがね違ちがいだった。

Choosing him as the leader was a misjudgment.

あの店みせをいいと思おもったのは眼鏡めがね違ちがいだった。

Thinking that shop was good was a mistake.

Kanji

眼eyeball
鏡mirror, speculum, barrel-head
違difference, differ

Related words

見けん当とう違ちがい
見当違い means a wrong guess or off-target assumption, while 眼鏡違い specifically implies a misjudgment of a person or thing's true nature, like wearing the wrong glasses.
人じん選せんミス
人選ミス is a straightforward 'mistake in personnel selection', whereas 眼鏡違い carries a more figurative, self-critical tone.

Built from

眼鏡めがね+違ちがう

Written forms

眼鏡めがね違ちがい
Standard kanji spelling.
メガネ違ちがい
Katakana spelling of 眼鏡, common in casual writing.

Etymology

Compound of 眼鏡 (めがね, 'glasses') and 違い (ちがい, 'difference, mistake'). The figurative meaning comes from the idea of seeing things incorrectly, as if wearing the wrong prescription glasses.