そう

[tanuki]

Hello, people!

I was learning one of the many meanings of the apparently multi-purpose そう and I got confused. It's the "seems like" そう.

I was reading Tae Kim's grammar guide and it said that this is used for "indicating a likely outcome given the situation". So far, so good. Now, here come the examples:

http://www.guidetojapanese.org/similar.html#part4

この漬物はおいしそう！("I bet this pickled vegetable is tasty! (This pickled vegetable looks good!)")

Why is this "indicating a likely outcome"? Isn't that just showing appearance (it looks tasty!)? For me, it would make much more sense to say この漬物はおいしいようだ！

Or maybe I just didn't get it?

[richvh]

友達が二人レストランにいる。
Ａ：何を食べたいのか。
Ｂ（メニュを見ている）：この漬物はおいしそう。
Ａ：そうか。じゃ、それを食べよう。

That help any?

[paul_b]

tanuki wrote:
この漬物はおいしそう！("I bet this pickled vegetable is tasty! (This pickled vegetable looks good!)")

Why is this "indicating a likely outcome"? Isn't that just showing appearance (it looks tasty!)?

The likely outcome if you eat it is that it will be tasty.

[Oracle]

tanuki wrote:
or me, it would make much more sense to say この漬物はおいしいようだ！

おいしいよう(だ) means you've inferred that the food is tasty from (most likely) watching someone else eat it and seeing their reaction. おいしそう means you've looked at the food and decided for yourself that it looks tasty. そう always indicates a judgement on the part of the speaker.