believe you me
1
8.8
- idiom
- Informal
:
créeme
- He has seen the evidence for himself, so believe you me, this is a serious issue.
Examples
-
I've been through a lot in my life, and believe you me, patience is key to overcoming challenges.
-
I would love to do this all day, and believe you me, I will.
-
You need help at so many different levels and believe you me, it is above their pay grade.
-
They are very close friends with Spooks and believe you me, they do.
-
She knows the risks involved, and believe you me, she is taking them seriously.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
To emphasize and agree that something is true
691
1.1
Said when you want to stress that you really mean what you say
87
5.4
To say yes very strongly to show something is certain
20
7.0
Tell someone to pay attention because what you say will happen
How Emphatic
Surface Forms
Morphology
The core meaning 'trust me' is signalled by the verb 'believe' and the pronoun 'me', so a learner who knows those words could likely infer the general sense. However the unusual insertion and word order ('you' in the middle) is an idiomatic, emphatic pattern rather than a standard compositional structure, so the precise pragmatic force and usage are not fully predictable without prior exposure.
Etymology
Believe you me may come from an old way of speaking that puts you before me to make the sentence sound stronger. Imagine someone leaning close and saying it to prove they really know what happened; that's why it means 'trust me' or 'what I'm saying is true'.