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Often I hear the follow said (or similar variations):

So if I don't see you till then, have a nice vacation.

Now I suppose that the intent is that if I don't see you until you leave, then I'll wish you now with have a nice vacation.

However, to me the sentence seems flawed if you take it at face value, in that it could sound like the wish have a nice vacation is only being given on the condition that I don't see you till then.

So I'm wondering if

  1. the given form of the sentence is in fact okay (and not flawed) and

  2. Is there an alternative succinct way of saying the same thing?

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    A programmer’s wife sends him to the grocery store with the instructions, “get a loaf of bread, and if they have eggs, get a dozen.” He comes home with a dozen loaf of bread and tells her, “they had eggs.”
    – mplungjan
    Commented Mar 25, 2014 at 12:03

1 Answer 1

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The sentence given in your example is correct for colloquial use, although as you've pointed out, it's somewhat idiomatic.

A more logically watertight example could be:

I'll wish you a nice vacation now, in case I don't see you beforehand.

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