# In my opinion or... according to me?



## Storditaaa

Hi everyone!
 I have a doubt: if I want to express my opinion on something i say "In my opinion bla bla bla.." but if the opinion I want to report comes from someone else, I'm pretty sure I can't say "In his opinion..." i should say...???
Thanks for your help, I really cant remember..


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## french4beth

You can say "in his opinion" or "he feels/thinks that..."


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## CatStar

Hey Storditaaa

I think it sounds ok.

In his opinion 
In his personal opinion

But maybe you'd prefer to use something like _According to Mr. X_ ?

Cat


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## Storditaaa

Yes, perfect, that's it! I was looking for "according to"
Thank you, I was getting mad trying to remember it!
Cheers


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## Sierra

But do remember that it is never "According to me... " (like in Italian) when you want to say "In my opinion..."


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## panjandrum

Sierra said:
			
		

> But do remember that it is never "According to me... " (like in Italian) when you want to say "In my opinion..."


Really?
Are you sure?

Alternative forms include:
XXX says that ....
According to XXX, ....
In XXX's opinion ...
with increasing scepticism about XXX's reliability


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## Sierra

panjandrum said:
			
		

> Really?
> Are you sure?
> 
> Alternative forms include:
> XXX says that ....
> According to XXX, ....
> In XXX's opinion ...
> with increasing scepticism about XXX's reliability


 

I meant in the case of "me".  One can say:

"In *Paul's *opinion" or "According to _*Paul*_"

but when would you ever say

"According to _*me*_" when you mean "In *my *opinion"?

I was just trying to indicate that in Italian one can say "secondo me..." but not "according to me..." (the exact translation) in English.


 ... and I know I'm supposed to be writing ONLY in English in this forum


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## panjandrum

Sierra - I was teasing, sorry.

When I read your post I wondered ...
I might say "According to me" in a very colloquial context, but not otherwise.  So I checked with Auntie Google...
about *921,000* for *"according to me*

Well, really!
OK, some of these are deliberately facetious, but with that number of hits I am forced to accept that for many people, "According to me .." is a natural usage.

Perhaps we could find a safe place where we could run off and hide from this ...

PS: We will happily accept some non-English phrases if they are relevant to the discussion and it is clear what they mean.


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## Sierra

panjandrum said:
			
		

> Sierra - I was teasing, sorry.
> 
> When I read your post I wondered ...
> I might say "According to me" in a very colloquial context, but not otherwise. So I checked with Auntie Google...
> about *921,000* for *"according to me*
> 
> Well, really!
> OK, some of these are deliberately facetious, but with that number of hits I am forced to accept that for many people, "According to me .." is a natural usage.
> 
> Perhaps we could find a safe place where we could run off and hide from this ...
> 
> PS: We will happily accept some non-English phrases if they are relevant to the discussion and it is clear what they mean.


 

Hah hah!  Well, I don't know then...

The only time I would ever say "according to me" might be if I'm feeling clever or want to be annoying, e.g. in the following exchange:

_Me:_ The meeting's going to be long and I think a few heads are going to roll!
_Friend:_ Really?  According to who?
_Me:_ According to me!

But I still insist I would never start a sentence like this:

_Friend:_ What do you make of the World Cup so far?
_Me:_ According to me, I think Brazil was the biggest disappointment


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## .   1

panjandrum said:
			
		

> Sierra - I was teasing, sorry.
> 
> When I read your post I wondered ...
> I might say "According to me" in a very colloquial context, but not otherwise. So I checked with Auntie Google...
> about *921,000* for *"according to me*
> 
> Well, really!
> OK, some of these are deliberately facetious, but with that number of hits I am forced to accept that for many people, "According to me .." is a natural usage.
> 
> Perhaps we could find a safe place where we could run off and hide from this ...
> 
> PS: We will happily accept some non-English phrases if they are relevant to the discussion and it is clear what they mean.


 
Is it possible that this is an Irishism along the same lines of the greeting, "Well it's himself then" when two paddys meet.

.,,


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## panjandrum

. said:
			
		

> Is it possible that this is an Irishism along the same lines of the greeting, "Well it's himself then" when two paddys meet.[...]


 I don't think it is an Irishism.  None of the first 50 links I skimmed over looked vaguely Irish.
It seems to be used a lot by bloggers (or possibly one blogger with lots of links).  There is also 
Jackie Mason's The World According to Me!
which could be responsible for lots of links.

_Friend:_ What do you make of the World Cup so far?
_Me:_ According to me, the World Cup is the Biggest Bore on TV this year


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## maxiogee

. said:
			
		

> Is it possible that this is an Irishism along the same lines of the greeting, "Well it's himself yourself then" when two paddys meet.



I'd vote for the lack of Irishness of "according to me!" - it's a grown-up's version of the schoolyard challenge and counter-challenge… "says who?" "says me!" … and is always exclaimed with vehemence.


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## moodywop

I apologize in advance if this has been discussed before but a search (titles only) yielded no results.

At IE an Italian forero said his English friends corrected him when he said "according to me" (a phrase Italians tend to use a lot since it's the exact translation of the Italian equivalent). They told him he should say "in my opinion". My English friends have always told me the same, adding that "according to..." should only be used to report other people's opinions.

Two Australian forer@s disagreed. One wrote:



> "According to me " is directly from "secondo me" and really means "according to my understanding" when you are discussing the meaning of something.
> 
> If you used the latter in that context it would be fine "secondo me".


 
Do you agree that "according to me" is not idiomatic in the "in my opinion" sense but perfectly acceptable in the "according to my understanding" sense?

EDIT: Just as well I apologized in advance! I didn't find this thread when I did a search for "according". Thanks, Panji.


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## GenJen54

moodywop said:
			
		

> Do you agree that "according to me" is not idiomatic in the "in my opinion" sense but perfectly acceptable in the "according to my understanding" sense?


I don't agree with this at all. In the US, I don't know I've ever heard someone, even in an academic setting, use "According to me," in any other way than the sarcastic was as Sierra so aptly described in Post #9.

If they did, I would probably find them a bit pompass. 

This is not to say its use in this matter is *not* acceptable in other countries.  I've just not heard it this way in the U.S.


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## A90Six

I don't know if this is right, wrong or just me, but I wouldn't begin a sentence wtih, "In my opinion" although I would have no problem with tagging it onto the end:



*For me:*In my opinion, that's a nice car. 
That's a nice car, in my opinion. 

​If I were to use opinion at the start of the sentence, I should be more likely to say:If you want my opinion, that's a nice car.

​


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## moodywop

GenJen

Actually the quote was from my post, not Tony's . I should have written "do you agree with the two Australian forer@s", since I myself have only heard "according to me" used as in Sierra's example.

When I quoted two British usage guides:


*!* Do not say 'according to me' or 'according to my opinion/point of view'. Say 'in my opinion' _In my opinion his first book is much better._
_(Longman Dict)_

_*In my opinion*, she's sick _(NOT: _*According to me*...)_
_(Practical English Usage, Oxford UP)_ 

and suggested that the phrase might not be acceptable in BE one of the foreros replied:



> No Moody it is universal in the English speaking world.


 
That's why I decided to post the question here at EO.


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## GenJen54

Sorry, Carlo.  I must have hit the "m" button and my fingers went on auto-pilot.  Mea culpa. 

In answer to your second question, I do not agree with the two Australian forer@s.


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## maxiogee

I haven't yet gotten sense of how the folks here are envisaging this "according to me" being uttered.

My comment about it being a grown-up's equivalent of the childish "Says who?" "Says me!" is the only way I can imagine hearing it.

A: "Hey! You can't do that!"
B: "Oh, can I not? According to who?"
A: "According to me! That's my X and you're Y-ing all over it! Stop it!"


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## panjandrum

I'm a little mystified by this question.
I don't very often, include any of these phrases in my conversation.
If I say something and don't clearly say it is someone else's opinion, then it is mine by default.
If I were discussing different opinions held by different people, I might introduce my own with "... but I think ...", or "... as far as I'm concerned ..." or some such conversational device.

Maybe I should go away and think some more.....


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## brian

maxiogee said:
			
		

> I haven't yet gotten sense of how the folks here are envisaging this "according to me" being uttered.
> 
> My comment about it being a grown-up's equivalent of the childish "Says who?" "Says me!" is the only way I can imagine hearing it.
> 
> A: "Hey! You can't do that!"
> B: "Oh, can I not? According to who?"
> A: "According to me! That's my X and you're Y-ing all over it! Stop it!"


I agree, and so does my post at IE.  It's all about keeping the parellel construction, which is why it never goes "Says who?"..."I say!"  (hurts the ears!)


Brian


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## the17pointscale

sorry to resurrect an old thread, but what about this:

_According to Bob, Amy, and *me*...._

i ask because i work with several statisticians who like to use the word _per_ instead of the phrase _according to. _it is quite common to see something like: _Blah, blah blah blah (per Jim). _

soooo...regardless of the awkwardness, would it be technically correct to write:
_Blah, blah blah blah (per Jim, Larry, and *me*)._

and, lastly, is there any precedence for writing:
_Blah, blah blah blah (per Jim, Larry, and *I*)._
_According to Bob, Amy, and *I*...._

(i assume not)

thanks!


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## quitejaded

Oh my! Don't say "according to me blah blah blah"

It sounds arrogant!

When you say "according to ____" it is usually a PROFESSIONAL or an EXPERT. So when you say "according to me" its almost as if you are saying you are an expert.

People only say this when they are being cocky or playing around with their friends.


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## the17pointscale

right, right. but what if you are an expert, and it's according to you and several other experts? i agree that it sounds awkward and perhaps pompous, but is it technically sound?


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## Dimcl

Personally, I would never say "According to Bob, Amy and me" (or "Bob Amy, and I" for that matter).  In such a conversation, I would say "I agree with Bob and Amy's opinions that...").

As someone else said earlier, "according to me" (or "I"), is rather redundant because if you're the speaker of the idea/theory/argument, then it goes without saying that it is "according to me".  Accordingly, the same argument could be made against using "According to Bob, Amy and me/I".


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## panjandrum

As discussed earlier, according to me is a disclaimer.
It is an acknowledgement that what I am about to say is my personal opinion, not to be taken as an authority.
According to me ....
As far as I know ....
In my humble opinion ....

... are all intended to convey the same message.


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## Shoes4me

*In my opinion, I would think that when you are expressing your own opinion, then it would be acceptable to say"in my opinion"or "My opinion on that matter..."*

*Bob-"I have a feeling that the X team is going to beat the XXX team. What about you?"*
*Bill- "*_*Well, my opinion on that matter is that the XXX team will beat the X team."*_

*I hope I'm being clear and understandable. But like GenJen54 said I don't believe that I have ever heard an American use the expression "According to me." However, I have heard something like this:*

*Older Boy: "I'm the best player on the team."*
*Younger Boy: "Oh yeah, says who?"*
*Older Boy: " Says me!"*

*"Says me"could be used instead of according to me. But I have only heard it used in playful banter or teasing in the example above.  *


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## the17pointscale

Thanks, everyone.

It sounds like we all agree--"according to me" is really only appropriate in colloquial contexts. However, I still wonder about the phrase "per," especially when used informally in a parenthetic citation kind of way, but I think that my question is a bit esoteric....


andrew


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## sound shift

I would never say "According to me" followed by a proposition:

Person X says, "Where shall we go? According to John the beer at the 'Green Man' is pretty good."

Person Y *cannot *then say, "According to me the 'Red Lion' has better beer than the 'Green Man'."

Speakers of Dutch should pay attention to this: "Volgens mij" is acceptable in Dutch in many cases where its equivalent in English - "According to me" - is not.


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## okey-dokey

the17pointscale said:


> right, right. but what if you are an expert, and it's according to you and several other experts? i agree that it sounds awkward and perhaps pompous, but is it technically sound?


 
You would say, "In our opinion ..." or "We think ..." or "Our research/findings shows/suggests ... ." With these you sound professional and that you know what you are talking about.


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## veermer

I have never used the phrase "according to me " because I thought it was wrong but I have noe read it in a magazine. Can  anyone tell me if it is correct ? Thnx


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## Sallyb36

Yes it is.


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## cuchuflete

It sounds a little awkward without context.  I don't believe it is grammatically wrong.  I can imagine it being used for emphasis in a dialog such as this:

Vermeer:  According to what authority do you make such an outrageous claim?
Bosch: According to me!


I don't use it, and do not recommend it if you are learning AE.


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## gallantgaurav

Dear Veermer,

     what you think,is absolute correct.we generally do not use the expression ,"according to" its considered wrong in standard english. 
Rather,we use " in my opinion"  

   thank you .i hope this addresses your query.


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## veermer

This is what I meant : "According to...." should be used when you report somebody's else opinion , whereas "in my opinion" ( and not according to me) is more common . Thank you very much for your reply


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## boriszcat

The phrase "according to" is used to cite a source for a statement. It need not be an expert, but to cite yourself as the source of your information is a bit pointless, hence, the awkwardness shown by the native speakers here at the construction "according to me."


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## boozer

I'm using this old thread to ask a similar question. When I was a kid, I was strongly advised against the use of "according to me" because, they said, it can only be used to quote some "high authority", someone that's really recognised and trustworthy.

Today, however, I heard it on the radio used by some White House policy-maker (not Barak Obama  ). So is that guy pompous, or we can say "according to me" without sounding complacent or conceited?


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## cuchuflete

It is not idiomatic in AE, other than as illustrated in post #32.  It sounds like a direct, literal translation of an expression used in at least one of the Romance languages, rather than something that comes naturally to a native AE speaker.  Without listening to the "policy-maker" (please provide sources whenever possible), I can't comment further, other than to say that Washington, D.C., is not a good place to seek models of clear, idiomatic speech.


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## George French

veermer said:


> This is what I meant : "According to...." should be used when you report somebody's else opinion , whereas "in my opinion" ( and not according to me) is more common . Thank you very much for your reply


 
In my opinion is commonly used. Should it be?

The WR dico gives:
"a message expressing a belief about something;
*the expression of a belief that is held with confidence but not substantiated by positive knowledge or proof*;"​ 
In my opinion "in my opinion" is not what most people really want to say.... In my opinion they should search for an alternative to in my opinion.  

GF..

But then you all have to decide/speak for yourself and we all will anyway. Unless you are trying to get your English homework past a stickler for correctness......


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## Loob

Boozer, I can't think of a situation in which I'd say "according to me".  Can you tell us more about the context in which you found the phrase?


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## Packard

I think that "takes the position that..." is hear more frequently than some of the other suggestions.

*Mike takes the position that American cars are not as good as Japanese cars--even when the Japanese cars are made in America.*

This sounds more natural to my ear than:

*It is Mike's opinion that American cars are not as good as Japanese cars--even when the Japanese cars are made in America.*

But I would not say that "opinion that" sounds odd in any way.


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## Cagey

There are certainly more elegant ways to say it, as has been suggested above. 

However, in improvised speech, "according to me" may be used to introduce an opinion while acknowledging that other people think differently about the matter. It is not necessary to interpret this as an expression of arrogance.


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## boozer

Some members asked me to give context and background. I thought I had done even better by actually finding the radio programme where I heard the phrase "according to me", and posting a link to it. Unfortunately, one of the most respected (at least by me) moderators, Panjandrum, did not like the link and erased the post. It may be because the Bulgarian translation on top of the English answers cannot be helped. 

Anyway, one Zachary Hampson of Grenville, clearly an American speaker, uses the phrase "according to me" to mean "in my opinion" and that is beyond any doubt. 

I was curious to know if anyone else had heard it used like this and whether it was not considered to be conceited or complacent. I see, however, Cagey's comment that this is not necessarily an expression of arrogance and, much to my surprise, I have to accept that "according to me" has these days become a legitimate expression synonymous with "in my opinion"...


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## cuchuflete

You may have come to accept that.  I have not.  I think it is both odd and rare, and not idiomatic in my version of English.


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## boozer

cuchuflete said:


> You may have come to accept that. I have not. ...


Well, they say "Please accept the rape if you can't avoid it!". But acceptance and liking are not the same thing 

And I have been known to mock people using that phrase in front of me. Now my whole world has collapsed.


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## Packard

Before the Beatles came out with "This Boy" I made a point of referring to myself in the third person. Instead of saying "It is my opinion...", I would have said, "It is Packard's opinion...". Clearly this form of speech is an affectation, and it seems to me that "In his opinion..." is a similar, and parallel affectation in speech. I would avoid it.


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## gillz

What about "_to me_"?  Is it correct?
For example:

- It tastes really good
- To me it doesn't


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