What Do “IMO” and “IMHO” Mean, and How Do You Use Them?

What They Mean ... IMO stands for “in my opinion,” and IMHO stands for “in my humble opinion” or “in my honest opinion.” For the most part, IMO ... 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Bankrx/Shutterstock.com Doyouhaveanopinionyouwanttoshareontheinternet?ConsiderusingtheacronymsIMOandIMHO.Here’swhattheymean,andhowtousetheminyournextonlinediscussion. WhatTheyMean IMOstandsfor“inmyopinion,”andIMHOstandsfor“inmyhumbleopinion”or“inmyhonestopinion.”Forthemostpart,IMOandIMHOareinterchangeable.They’retypicallyusedasadisclaimertoindicatesomeone’swordsshouldn’tbetakenasfactorasthebasisformakinganimportantdecision. Bothcanalsobeusedatthebeginningorendofasentence,asfollows: “IMHO,thisisabadproduct.” “Thisisabadproduct,IMO.” Bothacronymsarealsofrequentlytypedinlowercase“imo”and“imho.”TheirusageissimilartothatofYMMV(yourmileagemayvary),inthatthey’remostlyusedtoexpressthatopinionscanvaryfrompersontoperson. MoreInternetPhrases InternetSlang LOL|LMK|TBH|IDK|JK | NSFW|BTW|IDC|TBF |TLDR|Yeet|FOMO|IRL| FWIW|SMH|IIRC|TIL|ICYDK|AFK|NVM|ICYMI |HMU|IKR|AMA|GG |TTYL|HBU|LMAO|ROFL |IYKYK|YSK|SUS |TMI |TFW |NGL |OP |VPN Networking ISP,LAN,WAN,IPv4,andothers Browseourfullcollectionofinternetabbreviations! TheHistoryofIMOandIMHO Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock Thephrases“inmyopinion”and“inmyhumbleopinion”havebeenusedforhundredsofyearstoprefacethatsomeone’sabouttoexpresshisorherpersonalviewsaboutsomething.Theacronyms,however,likelytracebacktotheearlydaysofinternetmessagingandchatrooms. Advertisement Duringthe1980sand’90s,peoplehadmuchlessscreenreal-estateandsmallerbandwidth,whichimpactedthelanguageusedonplatformslikeinternetrelaychat(IRC).Asaresult,manyphrases, including“inmyopinion,”wereabbreviatedtoacronyms. Now,IMOandIMHOarewidelyusedallovertheinternet,frommessageboardsandcommentsections,tosocialnetworkingsites.It’sfrequentlyseenonTwitter,wherepeopleoftenengagewithalargeaudience. Inthesesettings,IMOandIMHOareoftenusedasadisclaimerinanattempttopreventangrycomments.Thisiswhyyou’lloftenseebothofthemusedinonlinedebatesandarguments,especiallyifthetopicisopentointerpretation,likethesubjectivequalityofamovie,book,orgame. HumbleorHonest? TheletterHinIMHOcanmeantwodifferentthings:humbleorhonest.Whiletheyusethesameletterintheacronym,mostreaderscantellwhensomeonemeansoneortheother. Theoriginalphrasewas“inmyhumbleopinion.”Whenapostermeans“humble,”thispersonisattemptingtoexpresshisorheropinionwithoutcomingoffasarrogant.Itreinforcesthatothersshouldtaketheirstatementwithagrainofsalt,asit’smerelytheiropinion,notafact.It’softenusedmerelytobecourteous,bypeoplewhodon’tconsiderthemselvesexpertsonsomething,orbysomeonewhoisanexpert,butdoesn’twanttocomeoffasarrogant. Whensomeonemeans“honest,”theiropinionmightoftenseemmorecriticalorharsh.IMHOinthiscaseimpliesthatnooneshouldtakeoffenseatwhatthey’resaying,asthey’resimplybeingtruthful.ThismeaningcanbesynonymouswiththeacronymTBH (“tobehonest”),whichisalsosometimesusedasadisclaimer. RELATED:WhatDoes"TBH"Mean,andHowDoYouUseIt? IMOvs.IMHOvs.IMNSHO WhileIMOdoesn’tincludetheword“humble,”itstilldoesn’timplythatsomeoneisconfidentintheiranswer.That’swhyinmostsituations,IMOandIMHOareusedinterchangeably.However,“inmyhumbleopinion”willalwayscomeoffasthelessegotisticalofthetwo. Advertisement ThedifferencesbetweenthetwoareevenmorevisiblewhencomparedtoIMNSHO,whichstandsfor“inmynot-so-humbleopinion.”Thisacronymisfarlesscommon,butyou’llsometimesseeitwhensomeone’sbraggingabouttheirachievementsorexperiencesonline. IMNSHOisusuallyintendedtomakesomeone’sopinionappearmoreauthoritativeorserious.However,itnormallyhastheoppositeeffect,asbragginggenerallyturnspeopleoff. HowtoUseIMOandIMHO Thephrase“inmyhumbleopinion”hasbeencommonlyusedinEnglishforcenturies.It’sfine,andperfectlyacceptable,touseeitherIMHOorIMOonlineorwhenyoumessageyourfriendsandfamily. Youcanalsousetheminvarioussituations,whetheryou’rediscussingthenewsordecidingwhattohavefordinner.Youcanalsousethemonsocialmediaandmessageboardstoexpressyouropinionaboutanything. Advertisement HereareafewexamplesofIMOandIMHOinaction: “IMO,thenewCallofDuty isn’tverygood.” “Itlooksbetterwiththebluejacketinsteadofthegreen,IMHO.” “IMHO,thispastrytastesbetterwithhoney,ratherthansugar.” “Thisisthebestcameramoneycanbuy,IMO.” Ifyouwanttolearnaboutotheronlineterms,besuretocheckoutourguidesonAFAIKandTLDR. RELATED:WhatDoes"AFAIK"Mean,andHowDoYouUseIt? 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