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  • Don't knock it till you try it.

vs.

  • Don't knock it till you have tried it.

Are there any differences in meaning of these two sentences? The first one is the simple present tense, while the second the present perfect tense? Or, it depends on the context to use one of them?

Thank you for the help.

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    The second is more logically constructed, and is used (especially with 'you've'). But the first is used (according to raw Google data) more often (or perhaps, according to Google Ngrams, almost as often), probably ... – Edwin Ashworth Feb 11 at 12:12
  • because it's punchier, and thus must be seen as an extra-grammatical idiom (ie acceptable). But what has your research shown? – Edwin Ashworth Feb 11 at 12:16
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The only small difference I can see is that some things can be tried immediately as you experience them (“Don’t knock this tool until you try it” or “... this perfume until you try it”) and other things can only be tried at the end of using them (“Don’t knock the delivery service until you have tried it” or “ ... the recipe until you have tried it.”)

In the first case you are invited to express an opinion at the time you experience the thing. In the second case you are invited to give your opinion at the time when you have tried it.

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I would say that "Don't knock it until you try it" is rarely appropriate. There are very few experiences where a comment is valid until after the experience is over so "Don't knock it until you've tried it" makes more sense to me.

There is an alternative which would include adverse comment during the experience which is "Don't knock it before you've tried it" but this is also less common than "Don't knock it until you've tried it" which is the most widely used form.

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