"It looks bent, but it is really straight" (Grice, 1961 -- and Quinton)

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Further from Quinton:

"Consider that old friend,

the stick half in, half out,

of water. One might say of it

i. It is straight
ii. It looks bent but is really straight.
iii. It looks bent.
iv. It is bent.

Quinton's diagnosis:

"(i) is true."

"(ii) describes the stick correctly AND
points out how one might be led to make
a mistake about if if unaware of the
abnormality (a refracting medium) in the
conditions of observation."

"(iii) gives tentative expression to the
inclination mistakingly to believe (iv)
which is straightforwardly false."

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""It looks bent" is the puzzling case. For it
may be a guarded way of saying 'It is bent' (denied
by 'It isn't bent') or a way of saying

(vi) Most people would be inclined to say
it was bent.

(denied by 'it doesn't') or a way of saying

(vii) It looks bent to me here now.

which can only be denied by (viii)."

viii. Oh surely not.

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"So even when NOT used to give tentative
conclusions from evidence, the verb
'appear' and its cognates are seldom used
to describe experience, but primarily to
give tentative descriptions of objects."