Personally, I don't see the need...

Oh I say that. I think I do it when I'm making a fairly lighthearted point that I know the person I'm talking to probably won't agree with. I.e. I'm not making an intellectual point or stating a fact, I'm opening a discussion.

I'm a pedant at heart😀

Yes. Hiberno-English is the same. Sick means ill and can refer to any illness. Phrases like "sick with the flu" wouldn't be unusual and wouldn't suggest vomiting. That would be referred to as "getting sick". I haven't heard anyone say sick with the vomit in years but it used to be used to mean getting sick.

That's just silly. There not being a phrase "I feel mentally sick" doesn't mean that people don't feel sicked by something and feel upset, or sick, at it. Which means that saying you feel physically sick is a reasonable emphasis or difference to a purely emotional response.

Personally is the new basically

Gosh, I've never heard that expression, I feel mentally sick. I've never heard someone say it, who knew?

I also think the term 'physically sick' is to differentiate from the American use of 'sick' to mean 'ill'. So someone feeling physically sick would be what the Americans would call 'sick to my stomach' - ie, feeling as though you might vomit. As opposed to having a temperature or feeling a bit 'off'.

So I'd give this one a pass.

Yes. You can feel emotionally sick about something by finding it repellent or distressing. Which is different to feeling physically sick. Feeling physically sick can be a significant reaction to being sickened by something.

Ochon, I love you.

Ah, I see. You are not disagreeing that the use of "personally" in those examples is a pleonasm. You are stating that you believe using it suggests you are not trying to impose it on others whereas I believe it makes the speaker sound a little pompous and that they believe because it it their opinion it carries more weight.

Different opinions, both perfectly valid.

Re your examples:

Shoplifters should get a life sentence.
This is being stated as fact, rather than opinion. Unlike opinions, individuals do not get to have their own facts.

I think shoplifters should get a life sentence.
I agree with your analysis of this one.

In my personal opinion, shoplifters should get a life sentence.
I agree with your second assessment "I think I'll sound posher/smarter/more important/more formal if I add more words." However, I also agree that people may believe they are cushioning it but not realise how it comes across to some of us. Equally you could argue that if I said "In my opinion, shoplifters should get a life sentence", I am pushing my opinion as valid.

Re But I disagree with your opinion that people should always stick to what's "sufficient".

I don't think that. There are times when a bit of wooliness and extra emphasis is helpful. i just don't think that is the case with the use of personal/personally in many of the instances in which they are used.

Re the professional/medical/legal opinion, they are still the personal professional/medical/legal opinion of the individual. That is why we are frequently told to get a second opinion.

The pleonasm is between "my" and "personal" or "I" and "personally". The word opinion is irrelevant to it.

But the great thing about opinions is that I respect your right to have your opinion on whatever you like. I also know that me disagreeing with you or you disagreeing with me doesn't invalidate either of our opinions. It simply means we have different opinions.

I use it a lot as a lawyer. I might be making sense to me but might be talking a lot of gobbledegook to my audience for all I know.

I really don't get these threads questioning perfectly reasonable turns of phrase people use on a daily basis for emphasis or clarity of expression in speech. It seems rather solipsistic to me. A lot of people saying stuff is how language develops.

Personally just tells everyone I’m not trying to say I’m the world’s leading expert on this, they’re saying’this is just how I think’. I think nowadays it’s a caveat that’s needed before everyone hops on you!!

It's better than "Gently, [brutal comment]". You can't make something gentle by lobbing "Gently" in front of it and hoping it stops people noticing you're being a cunt.

My ex boss used to preface everything with “in terms of”

“in terms of today, I have a meeting at 9”

”in terms of later, let’s have a catch up”

I had a therapist who liked to say “I’m not being funny”. At first I had no idea what she was talking about. It’s a strange expression.

I don’t think tacking on ‘if that makes sense’ invites questions though. Much better to pause and say ‘any questions?’.

I can’t bear ‘honestly’.

Every other post on MN seems to be begin with ‘Honestly’.

The worst was a recent post by someone who said something like ‘Honestly, this wouldn’t bother me, tbh’.

That's a more understandable context in which to use it. But if you look at the current Mumsnet posts, half of them use it for absolutely no reason whatsoever. And if women use it as much in real life as they do on here, they should be aware they are giving an impression of total lack of confidence, which gives the signal they can be walked all over. It's not a phrase men use.

I’ve used this in lectures/discussions/presentations to invite questions or clarification, which is the only way I’ve heard it used. Usually it’s because either a) there are many/multiple people and, since people process information differently, you want to make sure that it was clear for everyone or b) you genuinely aren’t sure if the person is going to understand your explanation/idea/etc. After all, perfectly clear to one person can be confusing to another.

It is less abrasive than asking “Do you understand?”

😂😂😂

'Obviously I did something that is not obvious to anyone but me but I need to say it'

Personally I don't see the need to start a thread on personally don't see the need.

What on earth is wrong with saying it?

But communication is more than just the literal meaning of the words. I could say something in different ways because I want it to come across slightly differently, like:

Shoplifters should get a life sentence.
This is my opinion. I have spoken. Prove me wrong.

I think shoplifters should get a life sentence.
This is my opinion. I understand it's just what I think, and maybe I'm open to a sensible discussion.

Personally, I think shoplifters should get a life sentence.
Either: I've heard your opinion, and disagree. This is my opinion and I think it's better than yours.
Or: This is my opinion, but I want to emphasise that it's only a personal perspective, and that I don't imagine it's some objective truth that everyone should agree with.

In my opinion, shoplifters should get a life sentence.
I'm trying to sound ever so reasonable, informed and balanced.

In my personal opinion, shoplifters should get a life sentence.
Either: This is my opinion, but I want to cushion it upfront by using TWO words to doubly emphasise that I'm not trying to impose it on anyone else. I don't want too much backlash.
Or: I think I'll sound posher/smarter/more important/more formal if I add more words.

I'm not being funny but shoplifters should get a life sentence.
…I actually have no idea why people say this.

I get why OP is irritated, because once you notice a change like this, you start to see it everywhere, even though people used to get along fine not saying <whatever it is> every three minutes. But I disagree with your opinion that people should always stick to what's "sufficient". Redundancy can be annoying but it's not automatically functionless. There's lots of times people add extra words that say the same again, to add emphasis or adjust the meaning. Like the difference between
"My brother was caught for speeding last week" and
"My own brother was caught for speeding last week".
They mean exactly the same thing, but would be said in different contexts with different underlying meaning and emphasis.

And you say that you can't hold any opinion other than a personal one, but what about the distinction between personal opinion and e.g. professional opinion? When you've heard enough times about somebody getting a legal opinion on something, or talking about medical opinion or some kind of other opinion, then it might feel natural to use "my personal opinion" to signify what kind of opinion you're sharing.

It might also imply that this subject is somehow emotionally personal to you, maybe?

The one that drives me up the wall and you see on Mumsnet all the time now as well as in real life is ending some explanation with - if that makes sense.
It's such an meaningless phrase and quite unnecessary. It's always used after a perfectly clear explanation, and there's no reason for it except that it's some sort of a written tic.

Oh dear, is personally the new literally? Please God no.

I had a client who constantly said "I'm not being funny but..." Every sentence was prefaced with it. I wanted to punch him in the face and shout "We know! This is not amusing at all". Lord save us.