“I’m just saying”

I hear it particularly often in Jewish humor. Perhaps it's from Yiddish?

My favorite is, "Alls I'm sayin' is". It's definitely a derivative of, "I'm just saying." I'm just saying is something that comes up in daily conversation. It's used exactly has Ben C. showed in his example. It very subtly changes a statement, but does so all the same.

oops, "p" is me.

Hmmm. I came here looking for the origin of "I'm just sayin' 'izall". I thought for sure it came from a movie or similar pop culture content. I think I've learned that its a specific variation of a (unknown) regional expression. I'm in Ottawa Canada & here we use as an after statement" it when we've inadvertantly caused an argument or controversy (how Canadian eh).

I think it can be used as a way of distancing oneself; a way of asserting something while at the same time claiming that it's not necessarily one's own opinion, perhaps to avoid offense. Say, something like "I'm just saying, If you paint your car purple, some people might think you're a bit weird." Translation: You're my friend. I'll support you no matter what you do. I don't think you're weird, but you might want to reconsider your aesthetic choices a bit. Alternate translation: You're my friend, but if you do this everyone, me included, will think you're friggin' nuts. I'm trying to warn you diplomatically so we can both save face.

I could be mistaken but I swear Eddie Murphy referenced the expression "I'm just saying" in one of his early comedy routines (perhaps Raw or Delirious) from the 80s.

Ever since then I've been using that expression. His point was that you can diffuse tension or turn around the meaning by saying "I'm just saying" or by repeating the offensive remark.

Example 1:

"You're ugly!"
"What?! Who you callin' ugly?!"
"Relax! I'm just saying you're ugly."
"Um, okay."

Example 2:

"You're ugly!"
"What? Who you callin' ugly?!"
"You're not UGLY ugly, you're just ugly."
"Um, okay."

So Eddie Murphy surely didn't come up with the expression, but 30-somethings like me probably learned it from him and help spread the expression.

Andrew, I'm a little confused by your examples. Nowhere do they actually include "I'm just saying".

Oops, I guess one does, if not the other.

I started hearing this used on forums a lot in the past year. For some reason, I LIKE it!

"all i'm saying" just means that the person is summarizing whatever he/she just said previous in one final climatic statement. So all i'm saying is stop overanalyzing it.

i think it's a way of saying something to someone w/o saying it. the substance of what youre trying to point out to the other person is omitted but s/he stills gets the drift, as in:

im not sayin' youre ...

... putting on too much weight ...
... drinking too much ...
... spending too much money on ...

... im just sayin' ...

the words go unspoken but the point gets hopefully 'heard'

y'know ... im not sayin' ... im just sayin'

Hmmm... I just thought that I would GOOGLE this phrase and see what I come up with. I was looking for the origin of the phrase: "I'm just saying!" It has struck me as in general usage (as pointed out in other posts) for the past 4 or 5 years. But maybe it has been longer. If Jerry Seinfeld did a skit on it I wonder if its origins are on the East Coast. Here I am on the West Coast (Wet Coast) of Canada.
Thanks, everyone, for the comments.

I use it comical situations. It can add more punch to the punch line. I tend not to use it in every day speech and certainly not in more serious conversations.

I've lived in NYC, Charleston, SC, Chicago and Berkeley, CA...I started hearing it in Berkeley a few years ago actually but now hear it everywhere. I often use the phrase or hear it--especially at work in my design meetings or when someone has a hunch or opposing idea.

"I'm just saying" is used to wonderful effect in the play Rabbit Hole which tells the story of ordinary people in the midst of life changes and tragedies. I saw an excellent production back in the fall and obviously the clause and its useage in the play have lingered. I've enjoyed reading about this clause. Thanks to everyone!

I first saw this phrase this summer, used by a friend on Facebook. Basically she uses it in place of "for what it's worth." Usually it follows something said tongue-in-check with a bit of a smirky grin implied.

Interesting. This came up twice in e-mails recently (here on the East Coast) and I wasn't sure how to interpret it.

In one case, I sent a group e-mail reminding everyone about a deadline from the previous day (I'm the project manager). In a group of 8, only 3 of us had met the deadline. In my reminder, I didn't mention anybody by name, not even myself -- I asked everyone who hadn't made the deadline to please get their stuff in ASAP. I got kind of a hissy note from one of those who did make the deadline, saying: "It hurts my feelings to be lumped in with all these slackers who can't get their work done on time. Just sayin'." I'm still not sure what to make of it.

Comically, I just asked my co-worker, who used the phrase "I'm just saying" postpositively, if she were quoting a movie. I hear this phrase all the time now. Hailing from New Jersey, I realize it may be common back east, but in Idaho, where I now reside, it has suddenly crept into common usage.

I actually found this blog while googling the exact definition of the term "just saying," but here's my two cents. I generally use it as a sort of disclaimer, a verbal 'throwing up the hands in innocence' if you will. I use it after a joke or tease directed at a friend. On one hand it's a disclaimer, but it's also a way to let them know it *was* a joke, and not an actual mean-spirited comment.

Over 50 years ago, Col. John R. Stingo, The Honest Rainmaker, told the story of “the White Robin Authenticity setup.” Rumors of the unique bird’s appearance in South Jersey began a betting frenzy among the New York gambling crowd. Finally, after observers from both sides made the trip and a photo was taken in evidence, all bets were paid off. Turns out, though, the original rumor-monger’s brother had done “a little Rembrandting on the good horse Ahmadoun” a decade before. Col. Stingo explains:

“Made this Ahmaudon look like a certain $1500 Claimer entered in a race that same afternoon. The conspirators got the Price and they reaped the harvest. Without customary Easel or Pastel, somebody could have done as neat a Job on White Robin.
I’m only Saying, that’s all.”

[From Stingo’s column, Yea Verily, March 3, 1945 in the Enquirer, according to A.J.
Liebling in The Jollity Building, The Library of America edition, p. 479.]

so many comments... I'm just saying...

I've always considered the postpositive "I'm just saying" to be analogous to speaking loudly to non-English speakers to make them understand. To me, the expression translates to "I see I haven't convinced you yet, so I'll just restate my conclusion without anything further to support it. There--now don't you agree???"

This is like my favorite saying... "I'm not saying, I'm just saying" LOL we always say it at work... I work at a big box retail store and we must say this like a million times during our weekly manager meeting. I love it, we have a blast! It's just fun to say!

That phrase -- which I like, too, in moderation -- sounds as if it comes from Jewish comedians of the 1930s and 1940s, possibly from Yiddish theater and drama of the era, or possibly the stereotype of the Jewish mama, the zenta, who is usually a nagger: nags her husband, her children, her sister in Brooklyn. For example:

"I'm not saying marry a rich boy, Rachel, but it's just as easy to fall in love with someone rich as it is with someone poor. I'm just saying .. "

The rich, earthy, usually wise resonances of colloquial Jewish American speech seem to come across in this phrase. It's subtler and often more persuasive than saying, "Now listen, I'm not ordering you, but .. " or "I'm not telling you what to do, but .. "

Maybe the famous "Molly Goldberg" said it on her radio program or "Mrs.Nussbaum", or Hermoine Gingold, or someone like that. That's my guess.

Roger, maybe it was just a typo, but I think you mean yenta, not zenta.

Thank you, yes. It was both a typo and an absent-minded error. Thanks for correcting me.

Thanks for the info.
Can you recall who said..."good night Mrs. ????? wherever you are"
Was in Jimmy Durante or Red Skelton??

"Good night, Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are" was Jimmy Durante's radio sign-off.

OP is a faggot!! I'm just sayin'..

It means,"take it as you wish and I don´t want to discuss about it."
Ex.:
That´s my understanging, I´m just saying.

oops.

That´s my understanding, I´m just saying.

Perhaps in 2006 when this was posted, the saying was "I'm just saying." By now it has become "just sayin" and appears on national TV, in ads, and even on CNN as Jon Stewart famously pointed out:
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-august-18-2009/cnn-s-just-sayin- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/19/jon-stewart-mocks-cnn-for_n_262807.html

Used effectively, it allows one to say something bold or raise an uncomfortable question while assuring the listener that one does not mean to offend or pick a fight. In a more subtle usage, one tags this phrase to the end of a sentence in order to alert the listener that one has in fact said something controversial ("fighting words"), which might not have been evident from the statement alone. For example: "If we repair the levy this area will be able to withstand a hurricane. Just sayin."

Overused, it is yet another way to refrain from stating your view with conviction, just like the annoying habit of intoning statements as questions and demanding reassurance for every word and phrase before expressing a thought.

AO-

Ending sentences with lots of words to cushion your statement is definitely a big thing in Japanese, especially among girls, who were the majority of my conversation partners when I lived there. Sometimes half the words in someone's conversation will be those sorts of cushion or apology words (especially "nandakedo" used without a particular meaning, such as in "moshimoshi, Emirii dakedo, ano..", where you're basically apologising for being yourself). Equivalents of "um" ("anou", especially "saa" where I was) also take up a lot of Japanese speech. It helped me a lot because it gave me time to understand the useful information in between, but it also makes people seem overly apologetic to my ears. I'm not sure where "toki ni" fits in though - it's usually used in the middle of a sentence, no?
I guess "Just sayin'" is kind of apologetic as well, but I always thought of it as making yourself sound more innocent, especially if it follows some kind of biting comment or teasing remark.

Yes, Emily, what you said:
"I always thought of it as making yourself sound more innocent, especially if it follows some kind of biting comment or teasing remark."

But there is also the "protest too much" inflection with which one can say "just sayin" You (seem to) step back from what you said only to draw the other person closer to its truth.

"What if we didn't have ice cream for desert? Just sayin."
"What if we don't go 75 miles an hour? Just sayin."

IMHO it's just a trend, a fad running itself around contemporary American speech. It reminds me a little of the overuse of the word "awesome" to describe just about anything positive. It also reminds me of the little bit Billy Crystal used to do imitating Ricardo Montelban on SNL with his line, "You Look Marvelous". That went around and everybody was saying that for a few months 20 years ago and then it died out. People pick up on stuff like that and it becomes the thing to say for a while. I'm just sayin'... (It IS fun to say!)

This saying is widely used in the state of Michigan and seems to be
getting more popular with the rest of the world! The saying is the
equivalent of the old New York saying- "forget about it!" It was
first originally invented and used by the underground comic
sensation BILLY KLEIN of BURT, MICHIGAN, USA. He loves others to
use it in their everyday conversations, but definitely wants
everyone to know it was him that started saying it and using it
in his shows!!

funny use of it here...

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-october-2-2002/helms---vulcan-death-grip

I am from Northern Maine (Aroostook County) and that is a favorite statement here. I am think here it has four meanings. 1. The statement is in my opinion. 2. My opinion is all that matters . 3. Pointing things out that are mostly obvious to another person. 4. "getting the last/final word in" comes to mind as well.

I needed to know what some people were talking about when they used this phrase (as each had a different definition of what the phrase means to them), so I looked it up in the urban dictionary.

Urban Dictionary: just saying
Just saying: a phrase used to indicate that we refuse to defend a claim we've made---in other words, that we refuse to offer reasons that what we've said is true.

Jan, I think "refuse" is to strong. One declines to elaborate or defend because
1) one wishes to avoid picking a fight. Sometimes the phrase "just saying," by suggesting that one is avoiding a fight, introduces a sense of contentiousness which was not there before
2) one is not vehement about the statement. One just wants the other to consider. Underlying this is the suggestion that the other persons resistance itself indicates that it may have some truth to it.

Example:
- Could he just be trying to get your attention?
- No!
- Just saying.

Read the Urban Dictionary online, I'm just saying.

Thank you Jo! :)

Again, I was just gave the Urban Dictionary definition. Any other definition or opinion is nothing more than someone's personal opinion. You'll have to take it up with the Urban Dictionary as they are the definition experts, not me.

strike the "was" LOL :)

The Urban Dictionary website says:

"All the definitions on Urban Dictionary were written by people just like you."

Which is to say: not by "definition experts."

Douglass, I'm not here to argue. I stated a simple fact. The definitions in UD are aprroved by a majority, just like any other acceptable law or definition is. Let it go.

Jan, I think "I am not here to argue" is also an implied meaning of "just saying."

Also wanted to share an apt usage of the phrase that I spotted in a comment to the article on Gravity in the New York Times:

http://community.nytimes.com/comments/www.nytimes.com/2010/07/13/science/13gravity.html?permid=17#comment17

And Aravinda, you have every right to feel that way. It has nothing to do with the original topic, but you still have the right say it. Let it go, you will feel much better.

Jan, are you suggesting that the Urban Dictionary is an irrefutable source of English usage? I think what several people are trying to point out to you is that the Urban Dictionary (by their own admission) is just a big open blog where anybody can post whatever they want.

porsche, if you have read and understand my original post you would know the answer to this. To fill you in, I simply supplied a viable definition to "just saying", the best and most correct one in fact, and apparently there are some who were reading more into it than the simple answer. Some are picking at things that have nothing to do with the original post and cannot be reeled back in. Again, I am NOT "suggesting anything or giving any personal opinions. I simply offered a great reference to help. I am not here to debate anyone. Many are just jumping in without understanding, and picking apart the last post & specific words; and asking questions that are off the topic. They have not even seen the big picture, just one post or reply. That is all.

As one who is "not here to argue," Jan, you argue quite a lot. Your "viable definition" to “just saying” is simply a crib from a mob-based website, where "best and most correct" is defined by random opinion, not knowledge. Trust me, Porsche has read and understood your original post:

"I needed to know what some people were talking about when they used this phrase (as each had a different definition of what the phrase means to them), so I looked it up in the urban dictionary.

Urban Dictionary: just saying?Just saying: a phrase used to indicate that we refuse to defend a claim we’ve made—in other words, that we refuse to offer reasons that what we’ve said is true."

Here are some current definitions for "just saying," taken from today's Urban Dictionary:

"A phrase that is used when someone is offended by something you said. This phrase then removes all the offensiveness of the previous statement, making it all good."

"Response when your motive for saying something is questioned and you a) had no motive or b) do not want to reveal your motive."

"Response when one has been proven wrong but is not humble enough to admit being incorrect or cannot settle with the other person's statement."

Rather a wide field of opinion. Hardly definitive.

This here site tends to be argumentative. People hereabouts "offer reasons that what we’ve said is true." Have you an opinion of your own?—I'm just saying.

Ha Ha Ha, That is all, Douglas, That is all. Have a great day!

Same to you, Jan.

For fuck sake!
I'm just saying

Looking back at the original question about "I'm just saying", it was about the origin, not the meanings. Douglas seems to have a handle on the possible meanings, but not on the origin. Several people have explained what they and their friends mean, but not the origin. I envision some Brooklyn punk (or perhaps it was Ben in New England) making an offensive statement and pissing off some tough guy, who says, "Oh yea? I ought to kick your ass." To which the punk (or Ben) says "I'm just say'n", as he backs off while holding up both hands. It diffuses the situation and he learns to use it at the end of any insult he makes. It may have evolved from the statement, "I'm just asking." That also comes from some punk who ask girls if they will go to bed with them and when they get insulted, he tries to laugh it off with, "I'm just asking."
I don't know the origin either, I'm just say'n.

i already went over who started it!! It was in my earlier post! the underground comic BILLY KLEIN first started this saying!!

I'M JUST SAYIN'!!

I hope this clears it up.

Did anyone even read what was asked for in the original question? You all are idiots, Im just sayin, ya know?

I use it synonymously with "I'm just throwing it out there." In other words, after saying something that might be considered offensive or controversial, yet also reasonable/logical/understandable, tacking on "I'm just sayin'/I'm just throwing it out there" distances the statement from me personally, so that the topic itself can more easily be discussed for whatever merit there may be in the suggestion.

This intends to a) allow someone to contend the argument without fear of hurting my feelings, since I've already offered the distance; and b) allows me to have even made the statement without fear of reprisal because, hey, it's not how I might actually see it, it's just an idea for your consideration.

Reminds me of Chris Rock summarizing OJ's position with "now, I'm not saying he did it...BUT I UNDERSTAND."

As an example, the continuing tensions between N. Korea and S. Korea prompts me to compare N. Korean Twitter huffing and puffing to that of a schoolyard bully, and you didn't get a schoolyard bully to pipe down by continuing to hand over your lunch money....I'm just sayin'.

And yes, I know the OP was looking for the origin.

The earliest reference I saw among the responses was to an Eddie Murphy standup routine, which goes back to the early 80s.

My comment was just adding some colour to the use discussion since I hadn't seen anyone mention "I'm just throwing it out there", which is also a not-uncommon phrase.

Beats the hell out of awesome...I am so sick of hearing that word! Just sayin'

In my area people who use this expression don't even bother to write or say "I'm just saying". It is always "jus sayin". It drives me INSANE!

I'm just saying how I feel, man/ I ain't one of the Cosby's I ain't go to Hill, man

''Just saying'' ~ a blurb at the end of a stement used by youth today to protect themselves. The once ever popular ''Just joking'' was also used at the end of a sentence....when my sons would say something that they thought their father or I would not approve of they would always follow up with a ''just joking''....now that they are older they are using ''Just saying''...in a few years it will be something else...

Caroline - I agree. "Just saying" seems to be the new "no offence", as in "no offence but (insert insult here)".

Looks to me like "I am just saying" is just a way to deliver an insult, spread a rumor, seed a doubt, hurt and pretend to not mean it. I am just saying.

I feel as though I've heard this in films or TV shows from the 50s... but with an added "that's all" -"I'm just saying, that's all!" - in instances where advice or information was being given by someone and a negative reaction was anticipated or sometimes seen by the listener, so then the speaker quickly said that phrase as if to halt the reaction and sort of smooth it over. I distinctly recall it being used on Seinfeld and The Simpsons as well.

Personally, I dislike it's current usage or over-usage and see it as an insinuation. Whether that be insinuating something is true or false, insinuating that the person can't be held accountable for what was just said, or suggesting that the reader/listener draw their own conclusions based on the info, it's all insinuation to me. Insinuations by nature, are indirect statements - to me, a sign of one who may prefer to avoid confrontation/responsibility and not offend anyone. Whether you find this to be a positive or negative trait, is completely subjective, and for me, it's a case-by-case basis. I'm not big on generalizations and I think the intentions behind speech sometimes don't match what is being said.

There are those who'll throw in that kind of thing simply because they picked it up in their vocab. There are others who's humor is such that "just sayin'" fits in perfectly as a post-punchline to whatever they were attempting to make a joke of. That kind of usage of the phrase makes me think of the old saying "there's truth in jest." In finding humor in truth, you risk offending anyone living with that truth.

In reading comments here, it bothers me to think that some feel saying "just sayin" gives the message that "I don't want to discuss this" or "I'm not trying to fight." It's almost like using a silencer ("just sayin") at the end of a loaded gun (what was said before "just sayin"). If someone is broaches a topic with another, whether light-hearted or serious, that other person shouldn't feel compelled to not be able to discuss their opinion or thoughts as well. Maybe the fact that a little statement like "just sayin" can be as powerful as to 1) provoke this much interest 2) be believed by some to disable further comment on the subject by the listener/reader 3) be used as frequently as it is 3) understood to have both ill-intended and well-intended meanings; says something about the state of "Freedom of Speech" and maybe even the mentality of a large population in this country. As I said, I see "just sayin" no matter the intent, as a type of insinuation or implication, a way of saying something indirectly. Why would so many feel the need to be this indirect if in fact we felt comfortable, confident and secure with the speech we have the freedom to use, as well as with ourselves and others whom we choose to have conversations with? Is it our fears, whatever they may be, that hold us back from total direct expression of what's REALLY on our minds? THAT is what I'm saying, and it's totally up for discussion! =)

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=i%27m%20just%20sayin%27

funny buy good definitions...

I'm from Oregon and recently noticed that phrase being used a lot, especially on facebook. Not sure where it originated or when, but it seems to be a fad phrase that has become popular by phony types who think it's cool and hip to say it and that they are cool and hip by using it, but really the opposite is probably true...they are followers with no originality. I may sound a bit harsh and cynical, but just making my point. I hate the over-usage of it and place it among other dreaded fad phrases such as "you go girl."

To clarify, people will say some random statement that could stand alone as said and then they'll add "I'm just saying" or "Just saying" after the statement. The statements can range anywhere from "Justin Bieber needs a hair stylist. Just Saying," to "Obama and FCC sell out on net neutrality. Just saying."

Bingo! Those who use this phrase have little capability of independent thought.

It's part of my ever-growing email...composed entirely of internet-non-speak.

So far I've got:

"How's that working out for you? Al Gore invented it. I'm just saying."