Re: THEORY: Are commands to believe infelicitous?

On 5/26/05, Herman Miller <hmiller@...> wrote:

> But besides evidence as a basis for belief, there is also trust.
> Whenever someone says something like "believe me, running a marathon is
> strenuous", it seems like they're really asking you to trust them based
> on their personal experience or observation. It'd be interesting to see
> if other languages use the equivalent of "believe me" or if they have
> other ways of translating this expression. But this does seem to me to
> be a valid use of "believe" as an imperative, at least in English.

:nods: Whether or not one feels that one can choose to believe as an act of 
will, the imperative use of "believe" *is* felicitous in English in a wide 
variety of contexts, both positive and negative:

Person 1: "There's this kind of caterpillar in the Arctic, you can freeze it 
solid and when you thaw it out, it's totally okay!"
Person 2: "I don't believe it!"
Person 1: "Believe it. It's got some kind of special blood that doesn't form 
crystals when it freezes, so it doesn't get all cut up inside like other 
animals."
Private: "They say we've forced the enemy into retreat!"
Sergeant: "Don't believe it; that's just what the enemy wants us to 
believe."

Father: "I'm sorry, son, that it has to come out this way... but that girl 
you're so set on marrying... is your half-sister."
Son: "Father, no!"
Mother: "Henry!"
Father: "Believe me, it's not something I'm proud of. But it's something you 
have to know about. When I was younger..."

Person 1: "Hey! You can't drink when you're on that medication! My uncle 
tried that and his liver, like, dissolved."
Person 2: "Bull. I don't believe you."
Person 1: "Don't believe me, then. It's your liver."

-- 
Patrick Littell
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