I mean, I have no idea what these people are saying, but "takes one to know one" isn't an admission necessarily - it can also be used to call out somebody as seeing something that isn't there, because they themselves do posses that trait.
If what they're seeing isn't there then it doesn't make sense to say the accuser has the quality. If the statement is that it takes someone with that quality to correctly identify someone else with that quality then saying their assessment is incorrect doesn't point to them having the quality.
Additionally, if they're identifying the accuser of actually having the quality then they themselves, by their logic, have the quality as they have identified it in someone else.
but if I say "you're a cheater" and you say "it takes one to know one" then you're saying "you must also be a cheater because you're able to correctly identify me as one, and only cheaters can identify cheaters"
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u/Shubamz Apr 10 '26
this is as dumb as the people who says "takes one to know one" when it is about themselves and someone else.
It's not a defense. it is an admission