I hear 別に used as "not in particular", did this usage come about just directly
from the meaning of "separately"? So when used, it means that someone has a
separate interest, like, etc. and hence they don't particularly have the
interest, or share the like?
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2014-09-24T00:39:43.107
18785
2014-09-24T05:23:30.170
question
meaning
別に to mean "not particularly"
No, this negative expression means "Not really", "I'm not interested", "I
don't care", etc.

I think this 「別に…」 is the shortened form of "別に言いたいことはない" or "別にそういうわけではない",
and 別に here roughly corresponds to _particularly_.

Something positive, like "これとは別のものが好きです" or "私はこれとは別に、言いたいことがあります" is not what
the speaker want to say.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-24T05:23:30.170
18790
2014-09-24T05:23:30.170
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18785
answer