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I have been posting on a forum recently, and every time I express my opinion, someone says I'm using the word incorrectly, and I want to confirm this.

I said something along the lines of: "In my opinion, this thing is bad"

Surely this acceptable? I would have thought the "In my opinion" would automatically render anything that follows part of my opinion, and not a fact that I am stating is true, so this would be the equivalent of "I think this thing is bad", would it not?

Otherwise, what is the correct usage of the word "opinion" in this context?

Edit: An addition to avoid confusion:

Take this example: "In my opinion, the realism in some videogames hinders the enjoyability, because etc.". This was actually the point I made in the first place, and the other person said that my opinion was invalid because there is evidence against my claim (as in they thought it didn't hinder the enjoyability), though I thought this was closer to the definition of "Fact".

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    In my opinion your thinking is perfectly correct.
    – WS2
    Commented Dec 1, 2014 at 22:41
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    @WS2, Unless in his opinion the statement that two plus two equals four is 'bad', because that is not a matter of opinion, but a matter of fact. Given that it would be very unlikely for native speakers would be very unlikely to dispute the usage of "opinion" as shown, there is very likely something else going on. OP, if you could share a couple of real-life, specific examples of "opinions" you've actually posted which people complained about (your usage of opinion), we can render a more authoritative judgement.
    – Dan Bron
    Commented Dec 1, 2014 at 22:47
  • No, this was in fact an example I used to avoid confusion. Take this example: "In my opinion, the realism in some videogames hinders the enjoyability, because etc.". This was actually the point I made in the first place, and the other person said that my opinion was invalid because there is evidence against my claim (as in they thought it didn't hinder the enjoyability), though I thought this was closer to the definition of "Fact".
    – Ambidextroid
    Commented Dec 1, 2014 at 22:54
  • @DanBron There are two issues at play here a) grammatical correctness and b) what is opinion and what is fact? If I say 'In my opinion two plus two equals five', that is perfectly grammatical English. Nonetheless it is completely illogical since arithmetic is not something where opinion counts, it is based on fact.
    – WS2
    Commented Dec 1, 2014 at 23:10
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    @Ws2, I don't think there's any question of grammatical correctness here; only on the proper usage and application of the word "opinion".
    – Dan Bron
    Commented Dec 1, 2014 at 23:12

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I suspect we need more context in order to know what the person was reacting to. While the particular sentence seems grammatically correct, there is a difference between "I think" and "in my opinion."

  • "I think" means you believe the thing to be true. You can say this about provable/disprovable facts. For example, you can say "I think that tree is 100 feet tall," even though you could just measure the height of tree and figure it out for sure. It just means you're making a guess, and you might be right or wrong.

  • "In my opinion" is better used when expressing preference for subjective things. "In my opinion, Michelangelo is a better artist than Da Vinci," is an example of a correct use. For an example of a strange use: "In my opinion, spinach has more vitamin C per serving than oranges." Since you can measure the vitamin C in these foods, you can't really have an opinion about them.

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    I've cleared some confusion in another comment above, though I'll edit the original queston.
    – Ambidextroid
    Commented Dec 1, 2014 at 22:59
  • According to dictionaries (OALD, M-W, CD), 'I think' is ambiguous, polysemous: it is also used with the intended meaning 'In my opinion, ...'. Yes, 'In my opinion' is the more precise expression, but 'I think he is a good man' obviously shows a value judgement.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Apr 14, 2023 at 11:54

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