Do you use the word probably, or its variations, a lot?

[walfin]

This is something that I tend to do.

Do you find this a problem in any way (socially etc.)?

 

[Artifice Orisit]

Maybe, at least it's highly likely that sometimes there's a hypthetical possibility that I may in fact do just that, in theory at least.

To answer your question: only when I'm being a smartass

 

[Melkor]

Yes.
but I also use essentially, like as not, basically, I would guess, and I reckon.

I can't say probably very well.

 

[tom]

do i use the word probably a lot?

hmmmm

hard to say, maybe.

 

[Toad]

Yup used it all the time.

 

[Jennywocky]

Yes, I usually use qualifiers to put necessary flex into statements and always have.

My INTP son was using qualifiers in his speech at age 4, it was pretty funny to hear this little boy speak like he was a college student. My INFJ kid did at a later age, my ESFP son did not at all (and tends to not qualify his comments).

 

[Jesin]

Qualifiers? Yup. I use qualifiers a lot.

 

[Ermine]

I might use them hypothetically, at least in theory, in certain circumstances...

Oh yeah. Can't ever be totally sure, can we?

 

[Kuu]

Perhaps. Maybe... it's possible. It could be. It depends on the situation...

 

[brain enclosed in flesh]

I'm pretty sure it's not possible for me to utter a single sentence without using a qualifier of some sort. At least I think.

Jennywocky- Funny about your ESFP son. The big joke between me and my ESTP husband is that he always says things as if it is The Word of God. "And he hath commanded it," I will say after he expresses his opinion. While I... well, you know what I'm saying. But I don't want to speak for anyone else but myself. Because they're entitled to their opinion and they've had their own unique life experiences. So what do I know?

And he's all about ranking and rating things. Rating and ranking things makes me almost break out in a rash. I think about it way too much, and when I am forced to, I know I have done it all wrong and it really isn't the order I would put it in, because how can you compare things anyway, and say one thing is better or worse? I like them all, okay, for their own unique reasons. Don't put me on the spot, all right?!

(Thanks for allowing me to get that out.)

 

[Anling]

I tend to qualify most things I say. I'm not sure if there have been any social ramifications. It could be that I'm just not social enough to have noticed them.

 

[Liontiger]

I think the only social ramifications it could have would be getting in the way of answering questions. For example, if someone is asking you for a definitive answer and you give them "perhaps it might if the stars are aligned in such a way that the outcome would be favorable..." people might be slightly exasperated. Perhaps.

 

[Ghost1986]

This is something that I tend to do.

Do you find this a problem in any way (socially etc.)?

yah pretty much so.

 

[Kidege]

Most likely.

Do you find this a problem in any way (socially etc.)?

It only became a problem when I had a cranky metaphysics professor. He kept reminding me -not politely at all- that: "it isn't likely, it isn't certain, we are not dealing with certainties, we're dealing with the TRUTH!"

 

[echoplex]

I will never answer the question posed in this thread. Never! Even when it appears I have given an answer, any certainty my answer may have had will be diminished to a mere statistical likelihood. I may be polite enough to denote this likelihood with a percentage, so that you may gauge my uncertainty. But know this, you will never really know with absolute 100% certainty whether I do or do not use qualifiers.

 

[Citizen X]

Yes, I use it a lot and I don't see how this could be a problem.

 

[Decaf]

It only became a problem when I had a cranky metaphysics professor. He kept reminding me -not politely at all- that: "it isn't likely, it isn't certain, we are not dealing with certainties, we're dealing with the TRUTH!"

What an ass! Oh, I should qualify that. Based on the comment you've relayed above and the attitude attributed to it, I am fairly certain that he is an ass!

... yeah, I use 'fairly' WAY too often. I don't know... it just feels like an appropriate qualifier for something you're not very sure about, but sure enough to mention.

 

[walfin]

I have an ESTP friend who doesn't use qualifiers. Somehow that seems to get people to agree with him more easily. I realise when I start saying maybe, perhaps, etc. too much, other people start thinking about the alternative possibility (and usually it does seem that they only start thinking about the alternative possibilities when I throw in the qualifiers, though of course it's hard to believe that they didn't think about those right at the start. Humans. Go figure). Sometimes I can derail my own plans, when I need other people to agree with me.

I think the use of qualifiers may be a subtle subconscious indicator that you're not that confident (when you really are, like, at least 90%).

 

[truthseeker72]

Another interesting thread. Yeah, I use qualifiers all of the time. The N in me realizes that there a several layers of truth that cannot possibly be conveyed in a single statement. The P in me knows that circumstances are fluid and it's nearly impossible to forsee all of the possibilities. Finally, the attorney in me knows the value of "CYA."

On a related note, I think that INTP's are particularly resistant to oversimplifications.

 

[Perseus]

do i use the word probably a lot?

hmmmm

hard to say, maybe.

Yep, and it is easy to miss out a letter, probably is for everybody, but I would not need "proably" cause it is near darn certain it is one of those nuisance words to type.

 

[Devercia]

I once told my mother, an ESFJ "I like these kind of hats, but they are such a fad that I would never wear one." She then said why would I, a person so self actualized, care about what others think. I then told her it was what I thought of the hat. She the asked if I liked it alot, would I wear it. I said maybe. She took this as "no" to the point of quoting me to have said "no."

I then went so far as to explain it mathematically, that if my liking of the hat was X and my dislike was Y that Z had to be greater than zero for me to wear it, thus X-Y=Z; that her example only defined X and therefor could not be answered. This only confused her further.

 

[bdubs]

Working in a local supermarket makes the use of qualifiers a bit of a problem. I can tell a customer everything I they need to know about a product but still leave the person feeling uncertain while someone else will say effectively the same thing and sell the item immediately. Saying "this is most likely your best choice based on what you have told me" vs "this is the perfect solution for your problem" will do that I suppose.

 

[flow]

I may or may not like this thread.

@Jennywocky - How soon were you able to 'type' your children? It'd sure be interesting raising an INTP, INFJ, and an ESFP. Wow, I can't even imagine the group dynamics.

 

[Zero]

I probably do.

 

[LucielaMinerva]

I have a knack for being overly obsessed with details and political correctness, so whenever I need to save my ass due to the lack of adequate information for an argument, I'd use that word, although I use it rather sparingly. I like my arguments to be perfect.

*mumbles*

 

[Razare]

Using them is required to be accurate, but they muddle thoughts and unnecessarily detract from statements.

 

[Rain]

Well, I see no problem with it at all. Despite the drawbacks when in a debate (you're seemingly low confidence of your own opinion hindering your strength of balance within said debate) in general conversation I cannot see how it would pose a threat, aside from making you out to sound a tad bit odd.

 

[RubberDucky451]

No one should speak in 100% confidence, therefore probably is my friend.

 

[Invoke Ninja's True Power]

thats the problem with the current "system" no room for variability. Things that are flexible can go past their stress point. Things that aren't snap when they hit that stress point

 

[TravisW]

I use "probably", "most likely", and the Tech Support "should", the most often.

 

[Invoke Ninja's True Power]

usually, probably, most likely, normally, are all i can think of at the moment and are my most common words/phrases used

 

[Kassie]

I do tend to use qualifiers a lot. My close friends seem to have gotten used to it from being around me so often, but when I'm explaining concepts to someone it confuses them for some reason, probably because I don't sound 100% sure on it. I know that there's never a 100% guarantee on things, but people don't seem to realize that.

So they'll probably continue to think I'm the human computer or something similar. Oh well.

 

[Cavallier]

Working in a local supermarket makes the use of qualifiers a bit of a problem. I can tell a customer everything I they need to know about a product but still leave the person feeling uncertain while someone else will say effectively the same thing and sell the item immediately. Saying "this is most likely your best choice based on what you have told me" vs "this is the perfect solution for your problem" will do that I suppose.

I have this same problem. Customers would get irritated with me because they felt like I wasn't giving them what they wanted. So I finally took all the qualifiers out of my speech patterns at work and suddenly the customers were happier. I use qualifiers at home and with friends all the time but when at work I have to look customers in the eye, always have a firm handshake ready, and never use qualifiers if I have any hope of being taken seriously. It's actually rather irritating.

 

[Zero]

Probably and Particular. I've tried to stop using them so frequently. I start to get annoyed with myself when I abuse words. There are few actions I find morally wrong. For some reason, the "mis-usage" of words is one of them.

 

[Cogwulf]

probably/possibly/might/depends/maybe/perhaps/think and likely are all words I overuse. I think INTPs probably use these words because we are never sure we're entirely right about things.

Also, some other words I actually overuse are 'actually' and 'also'

 

[The Fury]

I don't use the word probably or it's variations all that much. When I explain something I always sound sure even if I have no idea what I'm talking about. I use the word "actually" a lot though.

 

[Aiss]

I tend to use probably/possibly/likely etc. a lot. I don't think it's a problem. When I can't stop myself from correcting others who misuse them (especially "impossible") it usually becomes one.

 

[Venture]

I use 'bitch' allot and it's variations.
But I have toned it down just for this forum.

And though it's not a habit I use the word douchebag quite often becasue I am constantly running into them.

 

[cheese]

Yeah. Qualifiers and parentheses (very difficult to resist temptation to add extra, relevant information).

It does pose a problem, because most other people simply aren't as precise as we are. This means they're used to interpreting any qualifiers as indicators of significant uncertainty. What's 60% to them though is usually about 80-90% for us. Our thoughts are as certain as theirs, simply expressed less so. Makes communication and being taken seriously very difficult.

*edit
Dammit now I can't make a single post until I'm willing to face my 1000th.

*edit
Perhaps I can post my responses to all threads in edits.

*edit
To this, I mean.

*edit
Post-argument qualifiers are a problem as well. My thoughts are clarified through discussion, and what may have existed in my subconscious is only adequately expressed after several attempts. This is seen as sneaky position-changing, but in fact isn't (need to think about this more; may change mind).

*edit
Dammit, I want to post in Glove's masturbation thread but I can't because of these damn numbers.

 

[Venture]

Yeah. Qualifiers and parentheses (very difficult to resist temptation to add extra, relevant information).

It does pose a problem, because most other people simply aren't as precise as we are. This means they're used to interpreting any qualifiers as indicators of significant uncertainty. What's 60% to them though is usually about 80-90% for us. Our thoughts are as certain as theirs, simply expressed less so. Makes communication and being taken seriously very difficult.

*edit
Dammit now I can't make a single post until I'm willing to face my 1000th.

*edit
Perhaps I can post my responses to all threads in edits.

*edit
To this, I mean.

*edit
Post-argument qualifiers are a problem as well. My thoughts are clarified through discussion, and what may have existed in my subconscious is only adequately expressed after several attempts. This is seen as sneaky position-changing, but in fact isn't (need to think about this more; may change mind).

*edit
Dammit, I want to post in Glove's masturbation thread but I can't because of these damn numbers.

Were you talking about just us?

Or these 'douchebags' that we find.

 

[Tunesimah]

A statement without a qualifier is probably not worth saying anyways.

It's the way my mind works, everything has a justification... everything has a reason. Everytime I explain something I need those little extra add ons to convey the idea in my head.

I'm really trying to drop that, since most people interpret this as a weakness of conviction. But in my mind it's the strength of my conviction, if all these other things are true... which I'm fairly certain they are... this thing I'm talking about must be true. Look at all the connections holding it together...

In explaining things to other people I try to flip this, I ask a question that they will probably know the answer to... then I ask them why is that true.

What I really hate though is when people ask me a personal question, an opinion. I can never give a fully formed opinion... it's so full of qualifiers as to basically not be a statement about anything. Is this a good computer? Well if you want a computer to do blah blah blah, then this will do... it may be a bit overkill. And it depends on what you value in a computer...

I really wish the way I communicated was more easily understood... and less misinterpreted as weakness/confusion.

 

[Oblivious]

@OP: Probably.

 

[zmcintyre]

usually followed by idk.

 

[Astridian]

I often say probably, occasionally, maybe, somewhat, sometimes, and possibly.

I have problems with both 'probably' and 'possibly'. The former may lead others to conclude (illogically, but understandably) that I believe in the existence of chance or randomness, while the later could be interpreted as making an unwarranted claim about possibility and necessity. Despite these troubles, I often use the words.

I also frequently use parenthetical statements and go off on somewhat tangential issues to clarify what I've said. Language makes heavy use of context, and this context is often implicit rather than explicit, which makes me uncomfortable. I'd imagine this is because I assume other people to see things from a different angle.

 

[SEPKA]

I throw it in everytime I make something political incorrect, so that nobody can accuse me of anything. Also throw in to blatantly say something I'm not even sure if it is true or not when I'm forced to write a long essay on something boring, just as filler.
When I really do use it to its true meaning, I tend to define probably as having >50% chance of happening (subjective chance based on information I had), when there is a clearly defined method to make such calculation. But I avoided it in serious discussion, because I considered such word, without clear criteria and measurement, is just a meaningless word, or at most it falls under a red herring.