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Why do people use 'according to me'?

Jelena
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This annoys me to no end. Why do people use 'according to me' on SCN? Usually 'according to...' is followed by some credible source, like a law, or a dictionary or SAP Help or, in the worst case, Wikipedia. So when someone says 'according to me' and they are not some kind of royalty or person of authority on the subject, doesn't it sound a bit pompous?

There are so many other options - 'in my opinion', 'to my knowledge', 'per my understanding' or even AFAIK and 'methinks' are still better.

Is this some kind of odd regional jargon? What's the deal? Why 'according to me' of all things? I really want to know.

Thank you.

Accepted Solutions (1)

Accepted Solutions (1)

Former Member
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Jelena,


Why do people use 'according to me'?

This annoys me to no end.

If this is the most annoying thing that happened to you today, count yourself as extremely fortunate.

Best Regards,

DB49

Answers (20)

Answers (20)

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I think it is a misuse of language and they really want to mean "In My Opinion"...

I guess it sound classy and intellectual to you use that...

It's just according to me....euhh sory damn, In My Opinion....lol

Former Member
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"According to me" means it works fine in my system but don't know about yours, you may try this sort of method once.

Former Member
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https://www.englishforums.com/English/UsingPhraseAccordingToMe/vzbpn/post.htm

Jelena,

Your question has been debated elsewhere; see link above. There are several responses I particularly like:

  • If you know French well, you might be thinking of selon moi, a direct translation of "according to me"

  • I'm quoting from Collins Cobuild English Usage:

         You never say "According to me" or According to us." If you want to emphasize that what you are saying is your own opinion, you say "In my opinion..." or "In our opinion..."

Gretchen

Jelena
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Thanks, Gretchen! People using 'according to me' didn't seem like French speakers, so I guess I rest my case.

Hm, I should hang out more at those English forums...


harishtk1
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A bit late to this discussion, I see it has already been discussed in pitiless detail.

I would just like to add it is very common in Indian English to say "according to me" to mean "In my opinion" or even "in my humble opinion". In some cases, it may imply , "I realise you have an opinion on this, but I believe you are wrong, and my opinion, for what it is worth is... " .

I think there are several such phrases which are in common use, that sound a bit odd to the native English speaker. I do not believe there is a consicious intention to propagate the use of incorrect grammar or syntax.

Good to see Sapfans and Tuly idiots in here, I wonder what is going on over at sapfans nowadays.


former_member182550
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Harish Krishnan wrote:

I wonder what is going on over at sapfans nowadays.

Nowt.

Rich

former_member184158
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Hi,

in my opinion, they have used it without thinking what does exceltly mean, they think that has same meaning of

to my knowledge ,

I'd rather say 'Wie ich verstanden habe'

former_member182550
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As a late comer to this conversation,  I would interpret 'According to me' as being 'To my knowledge|way of thinking|experience'.

I wouldn't think it comes even close to an 'Eats, Shoots & Leaves' scenario....

former_member183424
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Copy-paste not allowed, even it is applicable for avatar also.

former_member182550
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The profile picture is not copy and pasted.  It's a badge of honour  (See The true history about the origin of the Tuly Idiots | The Tuly Idiots' Club)

Matt,  and I and a number of others have been proud to use this profile picture for many, many years.

"The Beginning:

Some of us got that phrase and saw the light: we are Tuly Idiots. The Mighty Two (abap_doctor and Rich) started the Crusade of the Initiation and created the Tuly Idiot Club. All us changed our signature, adding some references to “the last phrase” and The Mighty Two (Rich and abap_doctor) provided us, the Followers of the Light with a new brad symbol…"

VXLozano
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I've been alerted of this thread, and I felt the urge to raise it from the garbage... Just to add that, even in Spanish, the expression "according to me" sounds idiotic. And we (the TI club) know a lot about been idiots.

And I agree with me too.

former_member182550
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Now all we need is The Doc....

Jelena
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In the US I've never heard anyone in real life say "let's make a move". But if they did I'd assume they are talking about a board game or some kind of hostile takeover. In "let's get going" context we usually just say "let's go" or, for some odd reason, "vámonos".

TammyPowlas
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I'd rather say ""vámonos" too; I used to say that to my nieces & nephews all the time when they were younger- it was so cute to hear them repeat after me "vámonos" or ¡Vámonos!

Former Member
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Could be a colloquial thingy in a crappy asian country. Take Malaysia for example, we use the phrase "Lets make a move" to mean "let's get going". In anywhere else it could be taken as a challenge to dance off or something. No, I don't use that term either unless I'm about to challenge some alien overlord to bust a move.

matt
Active Contributor
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"Let's make a move" is also used in England to mean "let's get going".

Former Member
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You would be among the first westerner that didnt make fun of the phrase, .

We used to be a british colonial though, so that might be related...

Colleen
Advisor
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Australia too.... "let's make a move" or "let's get a move on"

matt
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Sounds like American English to me.

Former Member
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It seems that 'according to me' makes a person feel him/herself more valuable and special. In most cases it is the same as IMHO, but the last sounds a bit nerdish...

former_member211462
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"According to my knowledge" would sound much better than "According to me"..........

It shows how much the other person knows about the subject even though he/she could not convey much on the discussion.

But communication highly matters in a discussion.

If there is a good quality maintained on the discussion of a particular issue, one does not have to search the forum for more discussion related to the same issue again.

matt
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How about "to me". Short and to the point. At least, to me.

former_member211462
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After the person starts with "to me" how will he complete the sentence?

"To me i feel this should be like......." its goes like this.

matt
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To me, that is perfectly good English.

Former Member
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According to my observation it...

  • sounds smart
  • is a short preface
  • fills the void, you say something without saying something
  • gives an alternation to the sentence structure
  • moves the responsibility to someone/something else ("I only followed orders..")
Former Member
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Hi Jelena,

So I checked the definition :

according to

1. As  stated  or  indicated  by;  on  the  authority  of: according to historians.

2. In  keeping  with: according to instructions.

3. As  determined  by: a list arranged according to the alphabet.


There is nothing about "credible source", where did you get that from ?


You can use according to when  you  want  to  report  what  someone  said.


So indeed "according to me" makes no sense.


As for why people use it it can be explained by translation, not especially from google, in French for instance we have several translations to say something equivalent to "according to", and with all of them you can say it for yourself, it's not the same than in english.


That being said I never used "according to me" I guess I would say something like "I think" if needed.


Regards,

Benoit

matt
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Benoît Sabys wrote:

Hi Jelena,

So I checked the definition :

according to

1. As  stated  or  indicated  by;  on  the  authority  of: according to historians.

2. In  keeping  with: according to instructions.

3. As  determined  by: a list arranged according to the alphabet.


There is nothing about "credible source", where did you get that from ?

That's what point 1 means. An authority = credible source. According to me, as a native English speaker and university graduate.

Former Member
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Well yes but it only appears third in point 1, and it's only 1 point among others.... I should have asked why it's the first thing that come to Jelena's mind

My bad.

matt
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Ah, well, the second and third points also appeal, in a sense, to a credible source. For 2) - the source is the instructions, for the third, it's the accepted order of the alphabet.

Yes. I do have a tendency to be quite pedantic!

stephenjohannes
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It's interesting that those formal definitions that were provided do not match what I would normally hear in a conversation in my area.  That's something people always fail to realize that written English is not equivalent to spoken English.  In addition English does have dialects which have differences in both word usage and pronunciation.   I don't need to travel more than three hundred miles in any direction from where I live in order to hear the differences.  In the United States at least we don't all talk like the folks you see on TV or shows set on the East Coast/West Coast.  

My point is there is not always a single correct use of any phrase.  You, Yall,, Yinz, & Youse should know this by now.

Take care,

Stephen

matt
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That's right. Some of the folk in the North Eastern US sound almost English. 😉

Jelena
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Benoît Sabys wrote:

Well yes but it only appears third in point 1, and it's only 1 point among others.... I should have asked why it's the first thing that come to Jelena's mind

My bad.

I wasn't really giving the dictionary definition, I wrote "usually". It's how I've seen it used most of the time. All 3 meanings you've quoted are sort of a variation of the same, as Matthew noted.

Good points on written vs. spoken language. But to me personally 'according to me' would seem odd  either way. I thought it might be some dialect, but so far it seems either a direct translation from other languages (where such form is appropriate) or just people repeating something they've seen and assume is correct.

As a side note - there is similar expression in Russian, but if you tried using it as 'according to me' you'd get some raised eyebrows (at minimum).

former_member182550
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You ?? Pedantic ???

Not according to me.....

joao_sousa2
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 Why do people use 'according to me' on SCN?

The simplest explanation is that they aren't native speakers. That's not something an english speaker would say.

I used to find strange that so many people from India didn't use much punctuation but then I looked at the way they write in their native form, and the reason became clearer. They don't use punctuation like we do. It's like asking for english people to say my name, which they can't because the sound doesn't exist in their language. We shouldn't assume everyone know perfect english.

stephenjohannes
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Joao Sousa wrote:

Why do people use 'according to me' on SCN?

The simplest explanation is that they aren't native speakers. That's not something an english speaker would say.

Actually you do hear the phrase "according to me" in spoken English in an informal setting.  That phrase would not appear in written communications.  The best spoken example is "..but according to me you are wrong..".  It's not something you would use in a polite conversation.

That at least is how I view it speaking my local dialect of American English .

Take care,

Stephen

Former Member
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People also don't dare to you the word that "I am thinking" and they say "according to me".

Dare to use the word "I am thinking" also is not so BOLD to put some impressive word on listener.

Just with my opinion ...

Former Member
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According to me, people say "according to me" because they don´t want to say "in my humble opinion"

dairolozano
Contributor
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I completely agree with you.. Indeed, I prefer saying "As far as I know" .. but probably someone might think it sounds even worst.. 

Former Member
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Hi Jelena & Others,

                                  I heard "According to me" in a heated debate by an actress (of the sub continent). The actress is among the new lot, the discussion that I recall is some what vividly like this.

We should all leave this, who is number one and number two , I believe we could work a lot better, " According to me". She took a deep ( seriously deep) breath after this preach of wisdom in order to catch up on her breath.

So "According to me" its picked up by people from her debate. The clip of the show was flashed a lot. u know what m sayin.

Regards

Anwer Suleman

RafkeMagic
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Hey Jelena & others,

it seems I've used that term here before and never realized it was wrong to do so. No, I'm not a native English speaker, and yes, I do care about spelling, but I just didn't know about this one (yet). If I would translate "in my opinion", the way we use it, litteraly from Dutch (my mother tongue), it would actually be "according to me". Anyways, I'll try not to make the mistake again.

Cheers,

Raf

#learnedsomethingnewtoday #happy

former_member182378
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Jelena,

Brian has explained it well http://forum.wordreference.com/threads/in-my-opinion-vs-according-to-me.199120/

Further, "according to someone" is not necessarily from "credible" source (law, dictionary etc.), it can be from a person (his/her personal view) According to John, this film is a must watch!

Why according to me should not be used is explained by Brian.

Many people around the globe simply do not care to know if the English they speak is grammatically correct . They hear and copy, and assume that if spoken by many, then it is correct. Also, there could be according to John/Government/Glynn C Williams...so why not say according to me. The parallel deduction makes many arrive at this conclusion. (the listeners, recipients) People understand, so the end goal is reached. Thus the usage of this phrase continues...

Typewriter

Jelena
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Thanks for the link, TW, that was a good explanation indeed!

I'm not sure though if people necessarily don't care about their grammar, it just might not be a priority (yet, hopefully) for the beginners. Yes, at first it's exhilarating just to be understood, but it doesn't mean we should stop learning there. At least according to me this would be a mistake. Actually I still learn a lot about my native language. You should see the discussions we have on whether "parking" and "shopping" are proper Russian words.

former_member186576
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Imagine a scenario, if Chinese or Russians had occupied the entire world for past many centuries and at present if one of those language could be the universal language instead of English, then similar to the English grammar complaints here, the Russians and the Chinese too will throw similar sarcastic stereotypes against the rest of folks.Human nature.

To those who get hated, shrug it off and move on. Nobody is perfect. Everyone is good in their own way.

Sam

Former Member
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Sam,


....then the Russians and the Chinese too....

????  That ship has sailed.  EVERY culture, including the Russians and the Chinese, already have stereotypes for other cultures.  Such stereotyping is widely observed in just about every culture.


...will throw similar sarcastic stereotypes against the rest of folks.....

'...similar sarcastic'?  Uh, similar to what?  Did you find something sarcastic in this discussion????


....To those who get hated, shrug it off and move on....

Excellent advice, but doesn't seem to me to be relevant to this post, which is that the OP finds a particular phrase to be annoying.  Maybe I missed the part in this discussion about 'hating'.


Everyone is good in their own way.

I yearn for that to be true.  In my personal journey towards enlightenment, I still find it quite difficult to see much redeeming goodness in Josef Stalin or Jeffrey Dahmer.  Of course, I will admit that I am flawed, afflicted with the common failings shared by most of humanity.  It is possible that my perspective is just too limited......

Best Regards,

DB49

former_member182378
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DB,

I have been following you for sometime now. I appreciate your sincerity in reading and replying to posts, be it technical or non-technical. To persevere with this "manner/methodology" is praise worthy! and ofcourse it is nice to read your posts.

TW

Jelena
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Sam P wrote:

[...] then similar to the English grammar complaints here, the Russians and the Chinese too will throw similar sarcastic stereotypes against the rest of folks. Human nature.

To those who get hated, shrug it off and move on. [...]

Sam, you might want to look up some definitions in dictionary (Google 'define:<word>' also works) because there was neither "complaint" nor "sarcastic stereotypes" nor "hated" in any posts here.

I'm really curious though by what measure did you arrive at such conclusions because in addition to being an amateur linguist I'm also a part-time armchair psychologist.

former_member186576
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Hi Jelena,

SCN space should be maintained as a sacred place to share knowledge and help those who need solutions to their problems. When we step beyond that and make opinions about other member's attributes, then we degrade the integrity of space and vaguely divide the community. If a person knows the correct way to communicate, then he would do so, he uses wrong phrases because he doesn't know. That’s is his attempt/struggle to communicate.However when the receiver understand the sender’s intention, then the communication process is successful. SCN is not intended to improve the English language skills of it's members.

When a person is annoyed with something and make it loud and clear in public, can we define that act as complaining or act of compassion. Can anyone make a statement that they don't contain any attributes which annoy others. If so, talk to their spouse and get a long list before extending it from colleagues and friends.

Each individual is different and unique in his/her own way.  However rather than getting annoyed with others short comings if we all learn to embrace another human being, the way that person is, this world would be a better place to live in.

Regards,

Sam

JL23
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Communication skills is a huge part of a skillset  a consultant should have.

And unfortunately a many year experience with SCN just proves that those people who post basic and frequently asked questions - because they don't care about searching - are careless too in the phrasing the questions and doing a spell check.

Especially if I am not fluent in a language then I take certainly all advantages of the modern world(Internet translators, spell checker in SCN, Google Chrome has one within)  to make my post better before I publish it in a public board where it will stay forever visible for my boss, my recruiter and my children.

Jelena
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Sam P wrote:

SCN space should be maintained as a sacred place to share knowledge and help those who need solutions to their problems. When we step beyond that and make opinions about other member's attributes, then we degrade the integrity of space and vaguely divide the community.

There was no opinion expressed about the other SCN members. I was asking a question about certain behavior. If someone takes such question and projects it as some sort of a judgment of certain group then such logic is deeply flawed.

Yes, SCN is the professional web site where we share knowledge ('solutions to problems' part is the whole another discussion). Asking questions is a natural part of the learning process. If someone asked you, for example, why did you configure SAP in certain way, would you be offended by that? I sure hope not. So what's different about asking why certain verbiage was used?

Personally I've learned quite a bit about several languages already from this discussion. So instead of "embracing" someone's poor grammar why don't we embrace learning?

former_member186576
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Humans generally are inclined towards a prejudice nature.  Throughout centuries humans are raised everywhere in the world  with a restricted imaginary border, pre-defined in their mind before they become adults, about their own language, religion, nationality, society, race, education, experience, views and opinions. They tend to believe what they know and experienced is better and the rest what they didn't had an opportunity to experience is belittled. When an individual is capable to break all those barriers in their own thoughts, then they achieve a level where they are capable to think independently and impartially. This is a generational process and not flexible for an instant remedy.

Steffi_Warnecke
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Sounds a bit prejudiced, too.


Sam P wrote:

They tend to believe what they know and experienced is better and the rest what they didn't had an opportunity to experience is belittled.

That's definitly not how I was raised or how my friends think. And that thinking won't get you anywhere either. How would one be motivated to learn and earn new experiences, if that was indeed true and almost everyone would think, they already know and have the best there is? There would be no progress.

But maybe I can boil it down to "teenager tend to think, they know everything". If you meant that, I guess we can agree. ^^

matt
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I think labelling people who's behaviour that you disagree with as "haters" is itself prejudiced.

My observation is that people who use "haters" and "haters gonna hate" are refusing to engage in discussion. It's essentially immediate ad hominem attack. "If you don't agree with me, then you're a hater". Nice.

Jelena
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Well, in this discussion two guys using 'according to me' don't really strike me as relying on Google Translate types, although I might be wrong.

Funny thing - from English to Spanish Google translates it as "según yo". Reminds me of the old joke about "the vodka is strong but the meat is rotten" that originally was "the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak".

TammyPowlas
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I never noticed "according to me" but I agree it does sound strange.  As a native English speaker I don't think I've seen that or heard that.

And thanks for the vodka joke - good line for a Friday

Have a great weekend.

Lakshmipathi
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"According to me" also conveys a meaning "with the limited knowledge I have".   Of course, we also have to take into consideration, where it is being used and it differs.  As you rightly said, it also conveys a meaning "I know everything"

G. Lakshmipathi

former_member182378
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A good, refreshing angle covered by G Lakshmipathi.

Maybe the person is being modest, honest and down to earth with his "according to me" but the connoisseurs of grammar take it in the opposite way and frown upon this poor guy/girl

ooooohhhhhhhhhhhh

TW

Former Member
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I think the problem is that people not familiar with this expression have to take it at face value. What other option is there?

The expression "well, if you ask me, then..." it is certainly clearer that it is optional to read and "on site" one would normally wait for at least one other person to nod or at least look up from their mobile phone to see what is going on.

"According to me" does not belong to the English language in my opinion, and when used then we see discussions like this evolving from it.

But at least we now have some clarity for those who have read this. For those who have not, they are left to their own devices or to revert with doubts of their own.

For me this discussion is also perfectly ok in the SCN context, as we have come a long way from the SMS speak answers of the past and coining new phrases is also cool (if they make sense, according to enough people able to understand it at face value).

Cheers,

Julius

joseantonio_martinez
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Hi Jelena:

Maybe the problem is that the English is not our native language and we improvise.

I prefer: "Per my understandig"

For me the annoying word are "Dear GURUS" or "Dear SIR" for the last one I imagine me like an English lord

Regards

Jose Antonio

Jelena
Active Contributor
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It's not my native language either, but I don't recall seeing 'according to me' in any study aids. Is this some kind of unfortunate Google translation? I kind of doubt that...

Don't even get me started on 'Dear Sirs' - it's also sexist.

@Jurgen - I'm willing to give you one free 'according to me' usage pass for the lifetime achievements on SCN.

joseantonio_martinez
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I guess the google translation is the problem

If I try to translate from Spanish to English I get this one:

Regards

Jose Antonio

joseantonio_martinez
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English is not your native language, but since you have already been living for several years in US it counts as your native language 

Colleen
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have to agree with you Jose, quite frustrating when some says Dear Sir to me

former_member185132
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According to me , when somebody uses that phrase isn't used to imply that they're highly credible on that subject, it's actually the opposite. The person is implying that it is their opinion which may or may not be valid.

It's less like the Ten Commandments and more like the phrases "for what it's worth", "your mileage may vary", "my understanding is that...", "at your own peril" etc.

I've seen quite a few people say that, and while it might look different on paper, it's often intended by the speaker as a "[citation needed]" sign hanging over their words.

matt
Active Contributor
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So you're saying it's all these Spanish members who are guilty?

JL23
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I am save, 0 hits

But if others post "according to Jürgen" then I think I am allowed to use "according to me", right?

Former Member
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Possibly this is a trick to get other people to use the phrase "according to Sampath Kumar" when talking about his contributions, to give it an extra dose of authority on the topic...?

As in "according to Wikipedia" or "according to Albert Einstein" etc.

Cheers,

Julius

former_member185054
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Hi jullius,

     I understand that this post is related to me. According to me ,I am very happy that I am getting popular in SCN . Thanks for highlighting this. According to me, I will not use this according to me any more.

With regards,

sampath kumar.

Former Member
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Hi Sampath,

Indeed, this has made you famous - keep going!  🙂

Even if you did use according to me accordingly, you can prove that according to SCN you are the original according to me so have poetic license for the phrase.

Cheers,

Julius