When someone said something wrong and realized that instantly so wanted to correct that, is this expression often used?
for example) "Take a left at the corner. Oh I lied, you should take a right."
If it is not usually used, please let me know another one I can use instead of that. And it sounds kinda informal. If so, how should I say in more formal context?
In my dialect of US English, the usage of "I lied" that you describe is quite common. It's informal and usually said with a bit of irony: By saying "I lied" instead of "I was wrong," you imply that you intended to deceive the other—a bit of a self-deprecating joke, with a subtextual meaning of "don't place too much faith in me."
Like other hyperbolic idioms such as "literally" and "awesome," as time has gone on, the sense of irony embedded in "I lied" seems to have flattened out, and you might hear people say "I lied" as a synonym for "I was wrong" without pausing to check if the other person got the joke.
Other commenters from the US say they do not recognize this idiom; this is probably due to regional and/or generational variation in usage.
British people often say 'I tell a lie' if they want to immediately correct a mistaken utterance:
So you go along the High Street, then you go left - no, I tell a lie - you go right - then you see the mall on your right.
Joe was born in ninety-two, no, I tell a lie, ninety-three, so that makes him twenty-nine this year.
I tell a lie
idiom
mainly UKsomething you say when you have just said something wrong and want to correct it:
Her name is Paula, no, I tell a lie (= I'm wrong) - it's Pauline.
In American (US) English, you would say "I was mistaken" or "That's my mistake" (fairly formal) or just "My mistake" (conversational, often preceded by "oh" or "oops"). And then "My bad!" is extremely informal and trendy.
Lying implies an intent to deceive but mistake does not. The verb "to err" also means what you want, like "I'm afraid I've erred, so sorry" is correct but extremely old-fashioned and you would never hear anything like that in normal conversation.
You could also say "I lied" but only if it's obvious that you couldn't possibly have intended to deceive. I would probably never use it unless I was with close friends AND I was trying to be funny.
"I lied" would be a comical way of expressing it.
Other ways would be "whoops, I meant the left." and "err, not, the left."
Given the informal context, just about anything that expresses that a mistake was made would clarify that you were correcting not giving the next direction.
The message you should receive from the diversity of other answers is that usage of "I lied" in a figurative sense to introduce a self-correction is regional. I am very familiar with that, and I sometimes employ it personally, but that clearly is not universal.
Alternatives that are less likely to be subject to regional variation include
And it sounds kinda informal. If so, how should I say in more formal context?
I would agree that it is informal. Any of the above alternatives would be more appropriate for a formal context. In most formal circumstances, "I misspoke" is probably the one that I myself would reach for first.
Because someone requested that I not “answer the question in the comments,” I will make this into an answer:
You should be aware that this expression only works in the first person. You can say “I lied” (in my dialect of American English) but “You lied!” or “She lied!” would be very insulting (unless it’s very clear from context that you’re only joking).
Yes, it's a phrase that is used quite often. It's an informal and satirical way to say "I made a mistake" or, "I was wrong". It's not used too much anymore, but it's still perfectly legitimate. It also sometimes works in second or third person. It sounds weird and insulting if you take it out of context, but if you place it in a proper context(emphasis on proper), it works fine.
Yes, it is often used, by some people, in some places. But it is certainly not a "universal" expression. Nearly every English speaker would understand it, but for most, it would have an air of slang, an idiom of someone trying to sound "cool", that they would never use themselves.
Maybe a better question is whether you should use it. I would say, if you have to ask the question, the answer is "no".
For the example given:
"Take a left at the corner. Oh I lied, you should take a right."
I would use "(sorry/no/uh/erm/actually/[shakes head]/some other optional apologetic thing), I mean take a right". That's also not necessarily "universal", but I think "I mean" is much more so than "I lied".
