It is rare that anyone is ‘just sayin” anything. In fact, I propose that the vast majority of the times someone utters those words is to avoid true dialogue or ownership of opinion. It’s as if people are constantly channeling impartial thoughts about a wide variety of topics when, I believe, they have specific reasons for their words.
An example, while in a work meeting: “I’m just sayin’ we might want to consider more options.”
What the person could be saying, but of course you might never actually know: “I have an idea for another option–or I don’t like the options on the table–but I feel uncomfortable expressing either for some reason–or I don’t want to be saddled with owning up to having an actual opinion.”
Throwing in the ‘just sayin” doesn’t respect the other person or people in the conversation. It provides a hint to someone else but doesn’t provide reasoning or insight. Perhaps worse yet, someone who has claimed to be ‘just sayin” can be angry in the future if a desired outcome doesn’t occur: “Why is that still happening? I let you know about this last week.” But what had actually been said? Nothing, really. Because that person had been ‘just sayin’.’
If this piqued your interest, then you may enjoy: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/23/and-the-winner-no-problem/.
Todd Wellman 