Learn English – If something seems too good to be true, it probably is (not?)

expressionsidioms

I've bumped into the following expression a few times already:

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

To me, the correct way to say it would be:

If something seems too good to be true, it probably is not.

The reasoning being that, if you make explicit the implicit "true" in the sentence we get:

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

While surely it should be:

If something seems too good to be true, it probably is not true.

Am I missing something? Or maybe it is some sort of sarcasm?

Best Answer

I understand your reasoning, but the correct expansion of

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

is

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

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