american-englishbritish-englishexpressions
English is not my native language.
I am curious about the usage of "to my mind".
I've found an interesting article where the author is very surprised by the expression:
I have found that “to my mind” is commonly used in Ukraine … This is strange to me and everyone else in my cluster
Nevertheless there is "to my mind" in the Cambridge dictionary.
Self-explanatory:
English Fiction-2009 maybe, perhaps
It appears that perhaps has always been more common, in AmE as well as BrE, though maybe seems to have become somewhat popular.
The trend in "English Fiction" shows that maybe is prevalent in informal writing (?because of use in speech) more than perhaps.
Even here, since 2005, maybe has been losing ground in written use.
I would believe the British are more "formal" even speech, whereas in the US, formal language appears only in serious writing.
On usage, the Cambridge Grammar of English (p883) states:
The present tense form of have with got used for possession is more than twice as frequent in spoken BrE as in AmE:
I've got one sister and one brother. (BrE)
I have a cousin who never married. (AmE)
On formality, Swan in Practical English Usage (p230) states:
Got forms are especially common in an informal style. ... In very informal American speech, people may drop 've before got. I('ve) got a problem.
Best Answer
It means in my opinion and is common in both BrE and AmE. OED and NOAD both give the following description:
And I don't see anything informal with the expression. Neither NOAD nor the OED marks it that way.