Believe it or not [closed]

Shouldn't "believe it or not" be "believe it or don't?" I do not see the word "not" being used like that elsewhere.

Solution 1:

I do not see the word "not" being used like that elsewhere.

For that particular construction, there are others that are similar and easily understood:

Ready or not..., Like it or not..., Whether he knows it or not..., etc.

There is a dropped verb there, not necessary for understanding. You did understand "Believe it or not," did you not?

Believe it or [do] not [believe it]...

Words that are easily understood to be part of a phrase are often omitted. For example, the same can be said this way:

Words easily understood to be part of a phrase are often omitted.

Solution 2:

You can explain it as a shortened form of " Believe it or do not believe it". As this is a frequently used sentence introduction "or do not believe it" was reduced to "or not".

Despite the shortened form the sense of this idiomatic formula remains clear.