Is the word "personally" overused?

[Grepper 3,192]

I notice that many people use the word "personally" in sentences where it isn't needed.

 

For example: "Even though I personally am a brony, I'm not out to force others to be bronies as well."

The sentence works just fine without the word. "Personally" means something has to do with yourself, and when you say something like "I am," or "I like," the subject already has to do with yourself.

 

I just made up the example quote, but I often notice it used in a similar way by fans (not just bronies,) responding to people that either don't understand or hate that someone could be interested in a particular thing. To me it seems like the redundancy of "I" along with "personally" is intended to avoid appearing to force interests or opinions on others. It's unnecessary though. When I say that I like a particular thing, someone else shouldn't feel like I'm forcing them to like it too.

 

So what's your opinion on the matter?

Edited February 10, 2016 by Grepper

[Evilshy 5,090]

I personally don't have any strong personal feelings either way. It personally does not effect me, as it rarely comes up in conversations I am personally involved in. I suppose that it would bug me personally if I were to hear it more often, though, as I personally am bothered when I hear poor communication. Although, I happen to personally work with many people who have English as a second language, so I've personally learned to be more forgiving of it. I do hold myself to a personal higher standard, however.

 

That's my personal two cents.

[Grepper 3,192]

I personally don't have any strong personal feelings either way. It personally does not effect me, as it rarely comes up in conversations I am personally involved in. I suppose that it would bug me personally if I were to hear it more often, though, as I personally am bothered when I hear poor communication. Although, I happen to personally work with many people who have English as a second language, so I've personally learned to be more forgiving of it. I do hold myself to a personal higher standard, however.

 

That's my personal two cents.

Ahh!!! Overuse! Overuse! It's tearing me apart! :=:

---

To be clear, I don't get mad or anything when people overuse this word, but I do notice it and get mildly bothered.

Edited February 7, 2016 by Grepper

[Anneal 2,197]

Technically it would be grammatically incorrect due to the fact that it is a redundancy error. Personally only works if you're not the main subject.

[GeekySonic 1,150]

I guess I'm guilty of using it a bit too much. I tend to include when I make statements about my opinions. People have assumed that I made generalizations about them in particular in the past, so I feel obligated to spell out that my opinions are my own.

[Twiggy 2,966]

I personally don't have any strong personal feelings either way. It personally does not effect me, as it rarely comes up in conversations I am personally involved in. I suppose that it would bug me personally if I were to hear it more often, though, as I personally am bothered when I hear poor communication. Although, I happen to personally work with many people who have English as a second language, so I've personally learned to be more forgiving of it. I do hold myself to a personal higher standard, however.

 

That's my personal two cents.

I came in here to make this post. Thank you for saving me some time.

[Dark Horse 12,961]

I personally don't have any strong personal feelings either way. It personally does not effect me, as it rarely comes up in conversations I am personally involved in. I suppose that it would bug me personally if I were to hear it more often, though, as I personally am bothered when I hear poor communication. Although, I happen to personally work with many people who have English as a second language, so I've personally learned to be more forgiving of it. I do hold myself to a personal higher standard, however. That's my personal two cents.

 

 

I was going to say something personally, but personally I think this covers it.

 

 

...I'll go away now.

[Makazi 317]

If there's one word that's overused, it's "the". Also, I'm bothered by "literally" since almost no one that employs it does so correctly.

[cmarston1 5,959]

Well I generally don't want to treat my personal opinions on some kind of show or interests as some kind of objective fact.

[Jaxsie (Inactive) 1,343]

I never noticed, to be honest. ^^ But come to think of it, I'm guilty of using "personally" as well. I guess it's used as a padding for an opinion that one feels the other person will likely disagree with; or merely a filler word. (In my case, the former.) It's just one of the many nuances of the (broken) English language, but it doesn't bother me at all.

[MickeyAdaptus 2,211]

haha, dont worry xD.

 

Its true that some people like to use it alot, but thats how some people are, evrybody has a word that they overuse alot.

[Concerned Bystander 2,902]

I probably use it more than is strictly necessary, but given the current trend within certain communities of people being outraged over the smallest generalisations it is sometimes necessary to use it to caveat the fact that what you're saying is your own opinion or observation and is not intended to reflect any wider view.

[Grepper 3,192]

I'm bothered by "literally" since almost no one that employs it does so correctly.

Don't get me started...

I'm quite pedantic about grammar.

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 41,467]

I probably use it too much, but I can't say that I care. If you don't clarify that something you say is your personal feelings then you run the risk of being torn apart. 

[Stormlight 1,371]

Well, I haven't actually used the word "personally" in any of my posts around the forums, or in real life. However, maybe I did once or twice, but I haven't really noticed.

[KatonRyu 1,033]

I tend to use it for emphasis, but I can see how it might get annoying when it's done all the time. The main reason I feel the need to say it as a way of emphasizing I'm referring to myself is because I've seen plenty of situations where a person makes a statement only to be countered with "Well that's just your opinion". I want to prevent asinine replies like that by making it abundantly clear I'm speaking only for myself.

[SilyGeny 369]

I tend to use it a lot, though I try to avoid it for most of the time because it just gets too repetitive and well, I personally don't like people who re use the same words on every sentence. Just get a dictionary and find synonyms for god's sake xD

[Comic Sans 401]

* only due to this thread have i realised that i use the word quite a lot.

[Wraith Stalker 55]

I personally don't have any strong personal feelings either way. It personally does not effect me, as it rarely comes up in conversations I am personally involved in. I suppose that it would bug me personally if I were to hear it more often, though, as I personally am bothered when I hear poor communication. Although, I happen to personally work with many people who have English as a second language, so I've personally learned to be more forgiving of it. I do hold myself to a personal higher standard, however.

 

That's my personal two cents.

I was going to say it doesn't bother me personally, but this changes things.

Edited February 9, 2016 by Wraith Stalker

[gamecubeguy214 2,512]

Personally, I think it is pretty overused.

[Not_active 732]

Every word is overused. People speak too much.

[Ziggy + Angel + Rain 11,302]

No.  I don't feel as though "personally" is overused.  The words I do feel are overused tend to be obnoxious and / or inflammatory terms (popularized and probably born on the damn internet) that are often relied upon in lieu of actually typing out a point someone feels they've made anyway.

 

Your character is OP.

They're so overrated.

That's OOC.

That's flanderization.

They're an SJW.

 

These are okay in small doses and in the right company, but that's about it.  I will see the same person use one or more of these terms multiple times in the same post, and it makes me want to throw a dictionary at them.  And no: Not the "Urban Dictionary"; that thing has done a great disservice to language.  That is to say, I don't personally subscribe to leaning on the aforementioned terms overmuch.

 

I did the "personally" thing, too.  I'mma blame peer pressure.

[Invincible 2,091]

I suppose people are trying to drive a point through personal experience.

[Rawzy 1,302]

I think people just say it because they are skeptic about the other person thinking differently about their statement....so they feel like they have to say "personally"

[Oblivion 20,266]

Personally I dont thinks its overused at all!