I noticed someone say it at least three times in a meeting not long after writing that. Thanks a lot!
While I'm here, a similar one that does bug me (but at least for now I only hear Americans saying it, on Youtube or whatever) is 'I'm going to go ahead and [...]' or 'so I just went ahead and [...]' - why do you have to 'go ahead' before you do things over there, is there a problem with the Earth's gravitational pull?
To your first comment: I also use the “I was just going to <verb>” construction to soften a statement, I just don’t use it ubiquitously - sounds like you’re in the clear.
I haven’t thought about the going ahead/went ahead construction much. I loosely associate it with managerial talk. It does sound to my ears very subtly disingenuous. Now it’s my turn to be on the lookout for this.
While I'm here, a similar one that does bug me (but at least for now I only hear Americans saying it, on Youtube or whatever) is 'I'm going to go ahead and [...]' or 'so I just went ahead and [...]' - why do you have to 'go ahead' before you do things over there, is there a problem with the Earth's gravitational pull?