What's 'it' in the sentence 'it is worth it'?

Asked Aug 10 '22 at 13:30

Active Aug 10 '22 at 16:22

Viewed 32 times

Rebooting your career is definitely worth it.

Actually, my question is not specific to this sentence. I don't get the word it in the use of worth in general as in this one:

It is worth it.

If it were

Rebooting your career is worth taking some risks.

it would be crystal clear to me.

edited Aug 10 '22 at 16:22

Laurel

asked Aug 10 '22 at 13:30

karr

Where have you seen "It is worth to know"? – KillingTime Aug 10 '22 at 13:51
1

Aside from a dummy pronoun in general. "worth it" means worth the price you'd pay, or the dues you'd pay metaphorically. – Yosef Baskin Aug 10 '22 at 13:51
As for worth, it's part of the Commercial Transaction Frame, like value, cost, and price, and uses senses local to that frame. – John Lawler Aug 10 '22 at 14:03
@KillingTime, you're right. My mistake. I had put it in the question just after a Google search without seeing it in a reliable source. I removed it from the question. Thank you. – karr Aug 10 '22 at 14:09
Worth it means 'worth [the trouble of] doing, a good idea' etc. – Kate Bunting Aug 10 '22 at 14:19
Is an answer about dummy pronouns like 'it' and 'there' appropriate here? – Mitch Aug 10 '22 at 14:35
The first "it" is anaphoric. "Worth it" is an idiom, with "worth" as an adjective in predicative function with "it" as its meaningless complement. – BillJ Aug 10 '22 at 15:00
While I closed this as a duplicate of what might as well be the opposite question (asking about the first "it"), the answers seem to explain both parts pretty well. – Laurel Aug 10 '22 at 16:21

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