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

[bigcushionlover]

I'm personally seeing this all the time now and it irks. I have personally even found myself saying it and I personally feel I might need to personally cut my tongue out. Is it just me or is it being overused?
I don't normally complain about language use so please don't send me to pedant's corner as they scare me!

I’m wondering if you are my sister! Her pet hate is “in my personal opinion” and she says “could you contrast that with your impersonal opinion?”.

I think it's to preempt against people treating the opinion as some kind of blanket statement, maybe as a defence against potential challenges. If they're challenged, they can point out that they did say that that was just what they personally think/feel, and nobody can tell them that they don't feel/think what they feel/think.

Either that, or they feel the need to take up less metaphorical space with their opinions, maybe don't have the confidence to make a broader, more assertive statement, or feel it's polite to leave room for the fact that other people may feel different.

"personally" takes a debate down a notch from "<research/academics/Chomsky/Starmer> holds that"....
It's a way of signalling that you are expressing personal beliefs, rather than holding to a particular academic/party/ideological line.

I think people do this when they want it to be known that they recognise that other valid perspectives exist before they share their own opinions that others might disagree with.

No one says it before they comment on the weather.

I also hate “May I ask” and “I’m not being funny” . I know what people are trying to do but it annoys me - it’s too much and I don’t get less annoyed by a personally etc - if it’s offensive, it’s offensive!

I felt physically sick.

As opposed to mentally?

I actually (personally!) just used to on a thread 😂

I used it because the issue was something that could be argued either way. I wasn't saying that anyone who disagreed with me was wrong, just that that was my view.

I have no problem with someone saying "in my opinion...." or "I don't see the need" or whatever. It's the adding in of personal or personally to make it into a pleonasm that I dislike.

Disclaimer: I have only just learned the word pleonasm. I wanted to write tautology but I knew that wasn't right so googled it. I like it. I think I, personally, will look for as many opportunities as possible to use it.

Ah, now "I'm not being funny, but" really does get on my nerves.

Not just because it's usually followed by something judgemental or rude, but an ex-colleague used to say it all the time, and he just happened to be really unpleasant and thick as pigshit.

ETA or rude

Yes but you don't need to add personal. "My opinion" or "I think" or similar is sufficient.

I don't normally complain about language use so please don't send me to pedant's corner as they scare me!

Pedants'

They scare me too! 😂

See what I mean! You guys are like bloody teachers and no one likes that shit - I just knew one of you would pop in for a comment!
Bet you feel better now though.🤣

To be 100%, I had to put 'Pedants' in the search bit cos I wasn't sure but didn't want to risk making a dick of myself 🤭🤣

I disagree (I'm not adding "personally" there because I actually think you're wrong 😂).

And I disagree back😀.

Your opinion can only ever be your opinion. You cannot hold any opinion other than a personal one. If you hold the same opinion as someone else it is still yours while theirs is theirs. The use of the word "my" indicates it is yours. Saying "My personal opinion" is like saying somene's past history is dodgy. Someone's history can only occur in the past.

And I think the correct phrase for the above paragraph is "beating you over the head with my opinion".

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.

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?

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?

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

😂😂😂

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?”

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 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’.

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