From https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/194744/change-wording-of-unclear-what-youre-asking
The current description of "unclear what you're asking" misuses the pronoun "it" in the second sentence, and this issue has really been bugging me. Specifically, the pronoun is being used to refer to two different things in the same sentence, without any type of separation.
Please clarify your specific problem or add additional details to highlight exactly what you need. As it's currently written, it’s hard to tell exactly what you're asking.
Is "it" being misused here? The sentence is clear to me, and when I translate it to my native language I reuse the pronoun in the same way.
Best Answer
I agree that the statement is 'not quite right' but for a slightly different reason.
There is no appropriate antecedent for the first "it".
As currently written, the antecedent would appear to be "your specific problem", which is inappropriate. The sentence actually means:
[Having already thought this through, I noted that a very similar proposal has already been suggested on the other site, but I felt it might be helpful to explain the reasoning here. I also noticed, however, that that proposal on the meta site was posted some 3 hours before your question was posted here. So why the duplication & cross-posting?]