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This is in the spirit of the What is a Word™/Phrase™ series started by JLee with a special brand of Phrase™ and Word™ puzzles.

If a word conforms to a special rule, I call it a Personal Word™.

Use the examples below to find the rule.

Personal Words™ Not Personal Words™
PUBLIC PERSONAL
GOVERNMENT BUREAUCRACY
LAYOUT CHART
SHEPHERD MARSHALL
ANSWER FEEDBACK
MOUSETRAP UNDERNEATH
CRIBBAGE BLACKJACK
FUNDAMENTAL NUCLEAR
THEREFORE ERGO
SHELL COVER
MUST SHOULD
AWESOME WONDERFUL
STILL ANYMORE

CSV version:

Personal Words™,Not Personal Words™
PUBLIC,PERSONAL
GOVERNMENT,BUREAUCRACY
LAYOUT,CHART
SHEPHERD,MARSHALL
ANSWER,FEEDBACK
MOUSETRAP,UNDERNEATH
CRIBBAGE,BLACKJACK
FUNDAMENTAL,NUCLEAR
THEREFORE,ERGO
SHELL,COVER
MUST,SHOULD
AWESOME,WONDERFUL
STILL,ANYMORE

The puzzle relies on the series' inbuilt assumption, that each word can be tested for whether it is a Personal Word™ without relying on the other words.

These are not the only examples of Personal Words™, many more exist.

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    $\begingroup$ What an irony PERSONAL is not a Personal word™ :) $\endgroup$
    – Techidiot
    Feb 1, 2017 at 15:39

1 Answer 1

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I think that Personal Words

Contain personal pronouns in them

Examples

PUBLIC $\rightarrow$ I,
GOVERNMENT $\rightarrow$ ME,
LAYOUT $\rightarrow$ YOU,
SHEPHERD $\rightarrow$ HER,
ANSWER $\rightarrow$ WE,
MOUSETRAP $\rightarrow$ US,
CRIBBAGE $\rightarrow$ I,
FUNDAMENTAL $\rightarrow$ ME,
THEREFORE $\rightarrow$ HER,
SHELL $\rightarrow$ HE,
MUST $\rightarrow$ US,
AWESOME $\rightarrow$ WE,
STILL $\rightarrow$ I

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    $\begingroup$ Quick and on the mark! +1 $\endgroup$
    – Techidiot
    Feb 1, 2017 at 15:45
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    $\begingroup$ Damn, this is the first one I've managed to solve myself, but I was three hours late :P $\endgroup$
    – Wojowu
    Feb 1, 2017 at 19:19
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    $\begingroup$ Ooh that was fast! I guess the name of the words might have given it away a little bit :P $\endgroup$
    – Levieux
    Feb 1, 2017 at 20:01

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