if you say so
15
7.7
- idiom
- Informal
:
si tú lo dices
- "Are you sure this is the right way?" she asked. "If you say so," he shrugged.
- Okay, if you say so
- Well, if you say so
- Yeah, if you say so
But if you say so, all right, you know, so he was told he was going to have to to meet constantly.
- But if you say so, all right, you know, so he was told he was going to have to to meet constantly.
- They say I'm like, well, if you say so you said it, but but in short, bells are fine.
Examples
-
If you say so, it must be true.
Blog text (16) -
All right, if you say so.
-
All right, if you say so.
-
- If you say so.
-
Well, if you say so.
-
May Anna said, "If you say so, honey."
Fiction book (1990) -
Because if you say so, I'll do it.
Fiction book (2000) -
Well, if you say so, Reverend.
-
If you say so, Albert.
Fiction book (1990) -
Then she said, "It was an accident." "If you say so." "I'm very tired, Theo." "I know."
Fiction book (1990)
Antonyms
How Doubtful
12
4.1
- Informal
∞
7.9
- Informal
15
7.7
42
4.1
Surface Forms
Morphology
The literal components ('if' + 'you' + 'say' + 'so') allow a learner to grasp a conditional acceptance — essentially ‘I accept that because you say it’ — so the core propositional meaning is compositional. However, the common pragmatic nuance (doubt, reluctance, or sarcastic disbelief) depends on discourse context and prosody and is not fully predictable from the words alone, making the expression only partially transparent to a B1 learner.
Etymology
If you say so comes from the simple idea of giving the other person the final word, where if you means 'you decide' and say so means 'then I will accept it'. People use it to accept what someone has said, often with doubt or little interest, so it can mean 'I believe you, but I'm not sure'.