I am not complaining

[AskingQuestionsAllTheTime]

I am simply wondering.

People used to say/write "I feel for you".

Now, apparently meaning to express the same vague sympathy, they say/write "I feel you".

When did it start? I don't think I heard or saw it before about a year ago, but was I simply skating over it because I knew what it meant, or has it recently become usual? Has it been in some really popular programme as a catch-phrase?

Is it not a generational thing? I don’t think it conveys the same sentiment either.

Is it like saying " I hear you"?

What (apart from groping) does it convey, though? I mean, if I said something sad expecting sympathy, and the person I said it to started touching me, I wouldn't be comforted: I'd be creeped out.

"I hear you"... Yes, it might simply be taking one construction and projecting it to a different word.

But when did it start?

To me they are different things. I feel for you is like saying I feel sorry for you, I feel you is more like saying I understand you.

Oh, a shortening of "I feel your pain"? I hadn't thought of that.

I feel you is agreeing you understand what they are feeling.

I feel sorry for you is completely different to me, anyway.

I've not heard it but I would be as irritated if someone said it to me as if they had 'reached out' to me - I'm an unashamed elderly pedant though.

I think it is a generational thing. A younger colleague said “I feel you” to me recently, and my automatic response was “Please don’t!”