on language: i can't imagine

SOmetimes I need to control the literal side of my nature.

Case in point: The idiom, "I can't imagine." As in "I can't imagine anyone would prefer Chicago-style pizza over New York."

Every time I use that expression I have to stifle the urge to pause and say "Actually, I can imagine it as evidenced by the fact that I did." To claim that I can't imagine something is to prove that I can.

Yes, I know that idioms mean what they mean even if they're not literally true. Still...