mistake for

Idioms  

1. Take someone or something for someone or something else, as in I'm sorry, I mistook you for her sister, or Don't mistake that friendly smile for good intentions; he's a tough competitor. [c. 1600]

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Example Sentences

He tells us about the origins of tumbleweeds and how they roll; why Ogden Nash mocked the oboe; what napalm is and what it does; and why it’s a mistake for scientists to write in Esperanto.

From The Wall Street Journal

"As many of you, I have not slept, and probably this has not helped, as well as my advanced age," said Correa do Lago, in his mid-sixties, apologizing as he blamed an honest mistake for missing Colombia's point of order.

From Barron's

“We think it would be a big mistake for China to do that,” Sullivan said, alluding to the possibility of Beijing’s providing lethal aid, “because Russia is using those weapons to kill civilians and commit war crimes. And China should want nothing to do with that.”

From Washington Post

"We want to do everything possible to deter a very aggressive nation, Communist China, from ever thinking about landing on the shores of this beautiful island, because that would be a serious mistake for everybody."

From Reuters

He admitted it was a mistake for the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition to abolish the National Tenant Voice, a body set up to give tenants a say on social housing issues, in 2010.

From BBC