In my humble opinion

I read in one of my psychology books in college that women are more likely to say "I think..." or "Personally..." or other predicative phrases before stating an opinion where as men are more likely to make the opinion as fact.

As in -
"Personally, I think that apples are my favorite fruit"
or
"In my opinion, I believe that chlamydia would be a very pretty name if it didn't have such a negative connotation"

Compared to -
"Apples are my favorite fruit"
and
"Chlamydia would be a very pretty name if it didn't have such a negative connotation"

The point that my book was trying to make was that, as a society, women are less sure of them selves, less confident in stating opinion as a fact. Saying "Apples are my favorite fruit" is a fact, as long as it's true to you. But adding these phrases to the beginning puts our stance on shaky ground. It instantly softens the validity of our point by saying "you might disagree with me, but thats ok...because I'm just saying...me...personally...oh, you know what...you're right. Blueberries are superior."


Which brings me to the internet. There is a particular phrase that really grinds my gears. I read it on message boards, blogs and facebook and it goes a little something like this-

IMHO.

as in

"IMHO I honestly believe that Jon and Kate should have to go to counseling where they're forced to hug and give each other kisses just like Kate makes her kids do when they fight. Lol. Just my thoughts! =)"

In my humble opinion. Is there anything worse? Could you knock yourself down any more?
First of all - We all know it's your freakin' opinion. What else would it be? A math equation?
Second of all - I can only assume you add those 4 awful letters to soften your blow a little bit because you're afraid that the rest of the internets is gonna tear you apart.

"Dumb Biatch! Jon and Kate shouldn't go 2 counseling! They should b shot, execution style! lolz! And their kids should be divided up amongst the zoo's and fed to lions! Ur so dumb! I bet ur stupid! pwnd!"

Right...because reading that would just...oh...suck? I guess? Put you into a crippling depression tail spin? Hurt your feelings? No. It won't. Because it's just the freakin' internet and they can't hurt you and you don't take it to seriously because even with out being told...you know it's just their opinion.

Take a stand. Drop the clauses and asterisks we put before our thoughts. If you mean it enough to say it, then say it without hesitation.