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In a video game someone made me an offer for an item. He wrote

1 Cred. You cant refuse because it's 1 cred more than what you currently have.

("Cred" being a currency in game)

I, a german, told him that his statement is wrong. His offer of ONE is not more than what i currently own in the video game. He kept arguing that i had to see it as an addition to what i "currently" own. He kept pointing out the "currently" part and insisted that his statement was correct.

At some point i wondered if the sentence implied something different to an english speaker than it does to someone who just translates it.

I read it as "I offer 1 and 1 is more (right now) than your millions." which is not true. He had to assume that i owned millions or at the very least more than zero.

(there is a chance he was trolling but nontheless, i am curious)

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  • The person is being sarcastic. They implied that the item is valueless, meaning 0 Cred in value.
    – VTH
    Aug 1, 2018 at 12:01
  • In a following discussion he kept insisting on his statement being correct, no trace of sarcasm
    – NikkyD
    Aug 1, 2018 at 12:01
  • Maybe sarcasm isn't the right word. snarky is more precise. To expand a bit more, regardless of the item's value, it is worth exactly 0 cred to that person. Therefore, they are willing to pay you 1 Cred more than what they think it is worth - 0 cred. The person is trying to screw you over, hence their persistence. Ignore them, you'll get a better deal later on.
    – VTH
    Aug 1, 2018 at 12:08
  • Maybe i should clarify, we both knew it was a joke offer. And it wasnt really about the price.
    – NikkyD
    Aug 1, 2018 at 12:11
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    Upon further inspection, I now get what you were trying to say. The person did not imply that "I offer 1 and 1 is more (right now) than your millions". They meant: Your item is worth 0 Cred to me, regardless of how expensive it actually is. I'll pay exactly 1 Cred, which is 1 Cred more than the 0 Cred I think it is worth. Therefore, I paid you 1 Cred in exchange for something that is worthless. Because I'm willing to give you something of value (1 Cred) for something without value (0 Cred), my offer is too good to be denied.
    – VTH
    Aug 1, 2018 at 12:31

2 Answers 2

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I can only interpret "it's 1 cred more than you currently have" as meaning that the antecedent of it is the 1 cred referred to in the introductory sentence "1 Cred." If it is to be more than you currently have, that implies that you currently have (or the other player thinks you have) zero.

Even if the other player interprets it to mean "what you will have after the transaction" then there is no reason you "must" accept. Because if, as you say, you currently have 1 million creds (or even 100) then having one more is not a big deal.

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Let's say that you have 879762 Creds right now.

He was saying that, if you were to sell that item to him, you would then have 879763 Creds. Meaning, that you would have 1 more than "currently".

This is always going to be true. What he was saying was basically the linguistic equivalent to this mathematical equation x < x + 1, where x is whatever money that you currently own.

Although, I'm fairly certain he was joking, too. Still, he's technically right.

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  • 1
    But he wrote "it IS" one more, not "it will be"
    – NikkyD
    Aug 1, 2018 at 12:09
  • @Nicky: 101 is 1 more than 100, not will be.
    – Tim Lymington
    Aug 1, 2018 at 12:11
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    but the "it" refers to the 1 cred. See the answer of James Random
    – NikkyD
    Aug 1, 2018 at 12:35
  • Nicky: what is your point? 1 cred is more than 0, just as 879763 creds is more than 879762. "1 cred would be 1 more than you have now" is (or would be) another way of phrasing the thought; will be cannot be right.
    – Tim Lymington
    Aug 2, 2018 at 10:57
  • I see what you mean now. He definitely worded that sentence poorly. Still, I think from context, he clearly meant to use "it" just like James Random said.
    – Dávid Leblay
    Aug 2, 2018 at 14:52

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