What I meant was… was that correct or not?

Question

Is there any difference in meaning among the 3 following sentences?

What I meant was whether that is correct or not.

What I meant was whether that was correct or not.

What I meant was whether that would be correct or not.

If so, an explanation will be great.

Also is the 1st sentence semantically/grammatically correct? (could using "is" & "was" in the same sentence make the meaning of the sentence ambigous here?)

Answer 1

A couple of things.

What I was asking was whether...

would be clearer and more idiomatic than what I meant was whether...

There is no rigid rule that absolutely requires the tense of the whether-clause to agree with the past tense in the main clause, though such agreement is good. When it doesn't agree there are consequences.

What I was asking was whether that's correct or not. ^{conversational / colloquial}

What I was asking was whether that was correct or not. ^neutral

What I was asking was whether that would be correct or not. ^{perhaps a tad more polite than neutral}