Neither is Kittigate and neither am I, but English dictionaries from England are definitive (I prefer the one from the other major destination for Rhodes scholars, ie the OED). It's their language, you messed it up.
For the same reason they say, "I hate to tell you, but..." and then tell you anyway. It's related to the tendency to make a statement and follow it with, "just saying," as if that adds something to the message.
As opposed to not saying anything. If something is needless to say, why not just keep silent?
This post was edited by Stu Spelling Bee at December 26, 2021 7:04 PM MST