meaning of ことを言う

Question

もし女神というものが存在するのなら、きっと目の前の相手のことを言うのだろう。

It has been translated as:

If there are such things as goddesses, the woman in front of me certainly qualified.

If I try a litteral transaltion it would be :

"I am pretty sure that you could say that ..." Is this correct ?

Answer 1

This type of ～(こと)を言う means "to refer to ～", "to signify ～". From 明鏡国語辞典:

言う

④ 記号（特に、ことば）がある内容を表す。指す。示す。
「この論説は人類が危機に陥っていることを━・っている」

So the sentence means "I'm sure it (=女神) refers to the person in front of me". I think the original translation is fine. I don't know the subject of 言う... Practically, the subject is never indicated in a sentence like this.

We also say ～を指して言う, which is stiffer but means the same thing. Examples:

• 祖母とは親の母親のことを言う。
• 英語のitは単数のものを、theyは複数のものを指して言う。