For several years I have been annoyed with a particularly abhorrent phrase that has entered the English lexicon especially on social media and on comments under articles.That adominably irritating phrase is just saying’. Every time I see these vexatious words written at the end of usually an extremely intellectually lazy thought I just have to SMH and 🙄
I am not against new words or phrases entering our lexicon. Thanks to a graduate degree in linguistics I also understand languages are dynamic and continuously evolving. New phrases are often fun to learn and it keeps us on our toes. English is constantly infused with new terms especially since the advent of the internet. Words like avatar, hashtags, memes, trolling, selfie, tweak, unlike, and derp all owe their existence to the internet. Other words like poke, stumble, feed, friend, tweet, tag, status, viral, pirate, shade, and check-in all have vastly different meanings than they used to have. Remember when a tweet was just a sound a bird made for example?
People that end an often snarky comment by tacking the phrase just sayin’ at the end are not only indolent, they are also attempting to stop any attempt at reasoned discourse. They are telling you in advance there is no point in arguing with them further because their mind is made up and it’s the end of the discussion because they have spoken. I find it is often added as a really bad attempt for light-hearted humor or to suggest they possess some sort of wisdom or foresight that they assume you lack.
I have no idea who uttered this moronic phrase first and they probably wouldn’t admit it out of sheer embarrassment in any case. The word is a rhetorical escape clause releasing you from the asinine comment you likely just wrote and now quickly want to retract…. but not really.
You will find that Trump supporters are among the most egregious users of this phrase because although they secretly agree with everything he says they feel that by adding just saying’ they can distance themselves just enough to escape responsibility.
If you are too lazy or cutesy to even bother typing the letter “G” at the end of sayin’ you probably need to just shut the hell up anyway. I think this is the revenge we are getting for finally banishing the dolts who used to say “Whatever” to moron purgatory.
Some colloquialisms can be delightfully entertaining and descriptive and others can be as irritating as fingernails on chalkboards. But there is a special place in Hades for ones that have a sole purpose of putting the reader at a rhetorical disadvantage. It is pointless if you hope to elicit any response and does nothing to strengthen your original argument if you ever had one to begin with.
Imagine if Adele added Just Sayin’ to the lyrics of Hello
Hello, how are you? It’s so typical of me to talk about myself. I’m sorry I hope that you’re well. Did you ever make it out of that town where nothing ever happened….just sayin’Hello, it’s me
I was wondering if after all these years you’d like to meet
To go over everything
They say that time’s supposed to heal ya
But I ain’t done much healing…. just sayin’
Hello from the other side
I must have called a thousand times
To tell you I’m sorry for everything that I’ve done
But when I call you never seem to be home… just sayin’
Hello from the outside
At least I can say that I’ve tried
To tell you I’m sorry for breaking your heart
But it don’t matter it clearly doesn’t tear you apart anymore…. just sayin’
If you happen to be a member of the Just saying” clique, do yourself a favor and go cold turkey. You are not funny, wise, clever, cute, or prescient. And for the people who who like to say “kinda” and sorta”…..your’e next! 👿
Hi. Another one that is almost the same that I hear a lot and despise is nuff said.
Dude, I hate to point this out, especially since I describe myself exactly the same way you describe yourself, but… doesn’t the fact that this practice prompts such a strong reaction from you “kinda” indicate that it works? Just sayin’