I do not understand why the phrase "In my humble opinion" is used so heavily on SI. First of all, most of us are not humble about our opinions, otherwise we would not be posting them for the world to see. Secondly, I assume the readers of anything I post on SI are reasonably well-educated adults, and are able to differentiate between factual statements and opinions. In general, I think it is an insincere and pretentious phrase, and often used in that manner (as in "hey, what do I know, I've only made a million dollars this year").
I am not a lawyer, but I do not believe that adding IMHO would add any shield against legal action for the writer that is knowingly posting false information.
While I am posting about pet peeves, let me add that there is a widening misuse of the word "loose". Often we will read that a poster is "loosing money" or a stock is "loosing value", or another poster needs to "loose his attitude". I would like to point out to those who need it that there is another useful word in the English language, "lose",and that this would be the appropriate term to use. So I am "losing money" and "loosening my collar" as my temperature rises. OK, I am done, you can all let loose on me. Just don't lose your sense of humor. |
