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“My Own Personal”

This phrase is one of my pet peeves. It is used with alarming frequency and I seem to hear it wherever I go these days.

The other day I read a quote where someone said “my own personal heart is breaking.”

I guess he really wanted to stress that he didn’t break anyone else’s heart. Not only was it his heart (not your heart), but it was also his own (make no mistake about it…it was NOT your heart – he owns this one) and it was his personal heart (it’s a private heart – not open for public viewing). Perhaps he just wanted to add clarity to the situation. Or, more likely, he just used an awful cliche.

This phrase is doubly redundant and repeats itself, saying the same thing again and again and over and over. My own personal opinion is that you just shouldn’t use it. So please don’t.


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