I told you so!

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jasonlulu_2000

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---This is an extremely boring play.

---I told you so. I was bored to tears, too.

Is the underlined part a natural response?

Thanks!

Jason
 

Gillnetter

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---This is an extremely boring play.

---I told you so. I was bored to tears, too.

Is the underlined part a natural response?

Thanks!

Jason
If it "is" a boring play, shouldn't it be, " I am bored..."?
 

HanibalII

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---This is an extremely boring play.

---I told you so. I was bored to tears, too.

Is the underlined part a natural response?

Thanks!

Jason


You can only switch from 'this is' to 'I was' in certain contexts. You're changing the tense of the sentences.

'I told you so' is correct however.




Unless, the person saying 'I was bored to tears, too' had seen it before, and they were texting each other. Context needs to be made clear.

For example

P1 Texting 'This is an extremely boring play'
P2 Texting back 'I told you so. I was bored to tears, too.'
 

SoothingDave

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Yes, "I told you so" is a frequent enough expression that "Don't say 'I told you so'" is also a frequent expression.
 

jasonlulu_2000

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If I have "I told you so" and "You can say that again" to choose from, both answers are acceptable.

Is it right?

Thanks!

Jason
 

Raymott

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If I have "I told you so" and "You can say that again" to choose from, both answers are acceptable.

Is it right?

Thanks!

Jason
No, they mean completely different things.
For example, you can only say "I told you so" if indeed you did tell them so. That doesn't apply to "You can say that again".
I guess you realize what 'so' means. In your example "This is a boring play", "I told you so" means "I told you already/before that this was a boring play".
"You can say that again" simply means that you agree strongly.
 

Barb_D

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Person A saw the play last week. A tells B that it's boring.
B is now texting during intermission. He texted "This is a boring play."
A texts back "I told you so. I was bored to tears too." (meaning: when I saw it last week). NOTE: This carries the meaning of "I tried to give you good advice, but you ignored it and went to see it anyway.

Person A saw the play last week. He has said nothing to B about it.
B is now texting during intermission. He texted "This is a boring play."
A texts back "You can say that again. I was bored to tears too." (meaning: when I saw it last week).

A & B are seeing the play at the same time. The see each other at intermission.
A says "This play is boring."
B says, "You can say that again! I was bored to tears too." (meaning: during the first act.)
 
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