as true as

[navi tasan]

Is this sentence correct:
1-What I am saying is as true as the earth rotating on its axis.
(Meaning: What I am saying is as true as the statement: "The earth rotates on its axis".)

 

[2006]

Is this sentence correct:
1-What I am saying is as true as the earth rotating on its axis.
(Meaning: What I am saying is as true as the statement: "The earth rotates on its axis".)

What I am saying is as true as the fact that the earth is rotating on its axis.

 

[navi tasan]

Thanks 2006.
Does that mean that sentence 1 is correct or not?

 

[2006]

Sentence 1 is not as clear as What I am saying is as true as the statement "The earth rotates on its axis." and it is not as clear as my sentence.

So I would not use sentence 1.

You should compare what you are saying to a statement or a fact, not to the earth rotating on its axis.

 

[Raymott]

Thanks 2006.
Does that mean that sentence 1 is correct or not?

I would go so far as saying that sentence 1 is not correct.
"The earth rotating on its axis" is not a proposition.

 

[navi tasan]

Thank you both.

How about:

A-What I am saying is as true as the earth rotates around its axis.

 

[Raymott]

Thank you both.

How about:

A-What I am saying is as true as the earth rotates around its axis.

No, I think you'd have to use one of 2006's versions.

 

[euncu]

I think it should be "to rotate about".

 

[BobK]

I'd forget the geophysics and just say 'It's as true as I'm standing here' (which has a certain colloquial currency). ;-)

b

 

[2006]

Thank you both.

How about:

A-What I am saying is as true as the earth rotates on its axis.

But when you use "true" in relation to the earth rotating, it brings up other meanings of "true" such as 'consistent', 'exact', 'precise', 'without variation'.
That's why you have to compare what you are saying to a fact or statement of some kind, not to the rotation of the earth.

true

 

[kfredson]

Is this sentence correct:
1-What I am saying is as true as the earth rotating on its axis.
(Meaning: What I am saying is as true as the statement: "The earth rotates on its axis".)

If I'm not incorrect, the consensus among our experts is that Sentence 1 is not, in fact, correct. I agree. My own reasoning is as follows.

"What I am saying is as true as..." requires some kind of noun phrase (or what Raymott ably calls a "proposition.")

Such a phrase might be "the rotation of the earth on its axis."
Hence, "What I am saying is as true as the rotation of the earth on its axis."

Why is this? To my mind it requires a something. "the earth rotating on its axis" is very different from "the rotation of the earth on its axis." As is often the case, I'm not sure what the technical difference is, but perhaps you can understand what I am trying to say.

That may not be the best way to say it, but it does stay closer to the original form of the sentence.

But perhaps can explain more precisely what the grammatical rules are for such a sentence.

Thanks for bringing it up!

 

[Abstract Idea]

With all that said and well understood, what if the fact that the Earth rotates on its axis is not true, but rather everything else rotates on the opposite direction?

(I think I prefer BobK's)

 

[BobK]

...
(I think I prefer BobK's)

:up: Also, informally, you can use the flagrantly ungrammatical 'Sure as eggs is eggs'. ;-)

b