If it seems too good to be true ...
 

In another thread, OldE said, "If it seems too good to be true, it probably isn't."

I said this once in print (probably read by about 50,000 people) and was thoroughly trashed for it.

"The saying IS 'If it seems too good to be true, it probably is,' you idiot!"

Logically (to me), "If IT seems too good to be true, IT probably isn't," makes more sense.

The problem with the phrase is that the final word "TRUE" is left out, leaving the subject ambiguous.

"If it seems too good to be true, it probably isn't [TRUE]."

Makes a lot more sense than;

"If it seems too good to be true, it probably is [TRUE]."

This is the kind of thing that keeps me up at night.

Maybe open a shop rebuilding Pratt & Whitney R-4360's? You may not sleep better but at least your insomnia would be rational.

Absolutely hilarious! ^

Thanx!

May I suggest, "If it seems too good to be true, it probably is [too good good to be true].

Yep. That's how the statement is read in the English language, at least.

The above is the reason why the use of pronouns like "it" to refer to a previously mentioned item is tricky. I remember going over the agreement over and over in school. I believe the directive is that it is best to have the pronoun immediately follow the item (noun) that the pronoun is supposed to describe.

What Dixie says reads OK (with the additional text that Dixie added)

I think the problem is that the "it" at the end would have to refer to the previous noun. (I'm going to do a minor rephrase to make my thoughts clearer.)

"If something seems too good to be true, it probably is."

I think that the "it" has to refer to "something", NOT "true" or "seems to good to be true". And in the sentence above, I'm fairly certain that an English teacher would mark off for that because "it probably is" while a complete sentence does not clearly convey meaning.

So "it probably is" is not clear. I suspect the issue is that we are generally lazy, and frequently shorten things. I think that to clearly get the point across, we need more text.

"If something seems too good to be true, then something probably is too good to be true." I think the sentence could/should be written/said like that (or in some other way that is more clear and complete.

It's called a hidden declarative statement. There is no NEED to clearly state what is being discussed, the hidden declarative makes it clear from reference and repetition.

Just like when you elbow someone and cock your head over, you don't NEED to totally and completely state "hey mister, please look over in the direction at the guy getting ready to trip over his dog", all of that is infered from the environment, historic repetition and commonality of though among people in close proximity. The hidden declarative is that everyone understands that you are pointing out one person to another without having to...declare...it.

Even that is beating around the bush.

"If it seems too good to be true, then it probably is too good to be true," doesn't mean much unless you imply that "so therefore it probably isn't true."

vs

"If it seems too good to be true, then it probably isn't true," gets right to the point.

:) All in good spirit, of course. SmileWavy

Q: A mother beat up her daughter because she was drunk. Who was drunk?

A. She.

And that's the problem...

Written like that, then the "she" should refer to the daughter.

But then what mother beats up her daughter? A drunk one maybe.

You know, when I wrote that, it didn't seem right.....

"Infinite are the arguments of mages. "
Ursula LeGuin


Best
Les

Hmmm, fn wit wrds, tht thr is r grmr less in fer th dy. Thnx [emoji4]

I am sofa king wee todd did. [emoji52]

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Which is great if the person that you're talking to knows. But if the person that you are talking to isn't familiar with the concept, then there are better and worse ways to write it.

Yep, I agree and like this the best.

Ideally, the first "it" would instead be written as "a deal". "If a deal seems to good to be true, then it probably isn't a good deal."

If we're talking about a deal (usually the subject of this saying) then "if a deal seems too good to be true, then it probably isn't true," is not clear either. "Deal" = "not true"?

I think in this case, the "best" way to say it to ensure that there's little to no chance of misunderstanding is a longer way than most folks want to say.

And the best bet is to say what you say, and pretty much anyone in the US is going to know what you mean and likely not even question it (if it's verbal, clearly, as the written word on a forum, all bets are off).

Thinking about, a possible way to say it could be.

"If it's to good to be true it probably isn't real".

"I really didn't say everything I said" - Yogi Berra

In the most ambiguous way convoluted with a summersault of abrogated with ambivalent tendencies wishing for the OP to take a day off from the forever rampage of all nuances of pole vaulting the ramparts with a zero for a slice of pie in the inner working of things to slice the intellect out..
Go wash the car or something in the skill set?