206 Forms of Say
concessive meaning, which follows well- known paths of semantic change, is a
modern change (late Late Modern / early Present- day English). The forms come
to be used primarily in exposition and argument rather than narrative. This has
generally been replaced by that , perhaps as a refl ection of the increased scope of
the concessive. For the passive that/ this said construction, concessive meaning
is almost universal in Present- day English, while the active having said that/ this
may retain literal meaning in some instances. Finally, that said and, to a lesser
extent, having said that have increased in the 2000s, and it is likely for this rea-
son that they have elicited commentary by language critics.
7.3 (I’m) Just Saying and Related Comment Clauses
7.3.1 (I’m) Just Saying in Present- Day English
In Present- day English, I’m just saying (also just saying/ sayin’ ) functions fre-
quently as a comment clause in initial, medial, or fi nal position as well as
independently.^11
(14) a. “ I’m just saying , keep an eye on him.” (2006 Fantasy & Science Fiction
[COCA])
b. Well, maybe that’s a dumb idea. I’m just saying. (2012 Ramsay, Last
chance beauty queen [COCA])
c. So these are fi ne – we heard that you like your wine , I’m just saying. (2010
NBC Today [COCA])
d. I’m not defending any of, any of the candidates, I’m just saying , when
you go out and you look, the issues are still not clear (2007 ABC GMA
[COCA])
e. Could have been worse. We could have seen Hulk Hogan naked. Let’s just
put that out there. Just saying. You know? (2011 CNN_ Behar [COCA])
f. Hotels everywhere, including fancy ones, have got “the bug.” Just sayin’.
(2011 Redbook [COCA])
The clause is fossilized in the fi rst- person, present progressive with contracted
I’m and adverbial just (Lee- Goldman 2011 : 77), though occasional plurals and
past progressive forms are found and only or simply may on a rare occasion
substitute for just :^12
(15) a. (For the record, though, Morse is not married and goes on dates. We’re just
saying .) (2006 San Francisco Chronicle [COCA])
b. You don’t have to come! I was just saying. (2002 25th hour [COCA])
11 A search of COCA yielded 236 examples of I’m just saying and 11 examples of I’m just sayin’
followed by punctuation ( I ’m just saying|I ’m sayin’ [y*]), 37 examples of just saying and 5
examples of just sayin’ preceded and followed by punctuation (March 21, 2016).
12 COCA provides only four examples of I’m only saying followed by punctuation, four of I’m
simply saying , and two of I am/ ’m merely saying (searched July 11, 2016). The rarity of syn-
onymous adverbs such as only , merely , or simply can be explained by the semantics of just ; see
Section 7.3.4.3.