The word ‘just’ is actually two quite distinct words & meanings.
As an adjective (enhancing a noun), it comes from the same place as ‘justice’ - relating to truth, equality, being right - “a just decision”.
As an adverb (enhancing all sorts of things), it can mean ‘very close to’, in time, in precision, in fit to a circumstance - “just before noon”, “just what I wanted”, “just a little bit more”. If you like, it could be considered “almost, but not quite”. It does not mean “is the same as”.
Many people abuse the adverb by overlaying it with their expectations “it’s just a matter of …” - especially if they’re explaining something that they expect someone else to understand, when they themselves don’t quite grasp a concept. In a way, it’s a weasel word, which means it’s being used to mask something else inferred. In general, people who say “X is just like Y” actually don’t think X is anything like Y, but life would be much easier for all concerned if it was. It’s similar to “let’s pretend X is like Y, & see where the discussion leads - now assume X actually is Y & trust me”.
At the end of the day, X & Y aren’t any more the same for saying it.
Being a good communicator is all about saying what you really mean when you convey a message, not what you would like other people to think you believe. It’s easy enough to train yourself to recognise such weasel words as ‘just’, & then adjust your way of thinking. Change your words so that you can believe what you’re saying. The first step is to listen to yourself, & every time you hear yourself say “it’s just …”, then ask yourself “Hang on - is it?” Soon, you’ll be catching yourself well before you use ‘just’, & what you say will correlate with what you believe to be correct (just).
You could say that using ‘just’ badly is indeed unjust.
As an adjective (enhancing a noun), it comes from the same place as ‘justice’ - relating to truth, equality, being right - “a just decision”.
As an adverb (enhancing all sorts of things), it can mean ‘very close to’, in time, in precision, in fit to a circumstance - “just before noon”, “just what I wanted”, “just a little bit more”. If you like, it could be considered “almost, but not quite”. It does not mean “is the same as”.
Many people abuse the adverb by overlaying it with their expectations “it’s just a matter of …” - especially if they’re explaining something that they expect someone else to understand, when they themselves don’t quite grasp a concept. In a way, it’s a weasel word, which means it’s being used to mask something else inferred. In general, people who say “X is just like Y” actually don’t think X is anything like Y, but life would be much easier for all concerned if it was. It’s similar to “let’s pretend X is like Y, & see where the discussion leads - now assume X actually is Y & trust me”.
At the end of the day, X & Y aren’t any more the same for saying it.
Being a good communicator is all about saying what you really mean when you convey a message, not what you would like other people to think you believe. It’s easy enough to train yourself to recognise such weasel words as ‘just’, & then adjust your way of thinking. Change your words so that you can believe what you’re saying. The first step is to listen to yourself, & every time you hear yourself say “it’s just …”, then ask yourself “Hang on - is it?” Soon, you’ll be catching yourself well before you use ‘just’, & what you say will correlate with what you believe to be correct (just).
You could say that using ‘just’ badly is indeed unjust.
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