3 ms·

Sorry for being petty, but what's this creeping pattern of folk leading with "So"? It reads poorly and sounds even worse.

• digisth 13y ago
  Here's more information on the linguistic development of starting sentences with 'So': http://chronicle.com/blogs/linguafranca/2011/12/02/so-it-turns-out-that-everyones-starting-sentences-with-so/ http://chronicle.com/blogs/linguafranca/2011/12/02/so-it-tur...
  • frou_dh 13y ago
    Good links. Thanks. (Predictably the Chronicle article has a bunch of comedy geniuses using it as a comment!)
• ChuckMcM 13y ago
  It is a reasonable question. I tend to write like I talk, which the Chicago manual of style frowns upon. It isn't a particularly 'creeping' pattern, it is quite common amongst people with whom I have regular informal conversations. That said[1], I probably feel the same way about the use of 'because' in informal speech. Which was recently upgraded to include the form "because <noun>." I don't find that a particularly compelling upgrade. [1] Another habitual favorite of mine.
  • frou_dh 13y ago
    There was a recent album release called "Because the internet". Absolutely horrific :-) --- I think what gets me about leading with "So" (more so in spoken converstaion) is that it makes the speaker sound like they're constantly, and consciously, having to reframe things in a form that the poor dummy they're speaking to will understand. Politicians do it a lot when answering questions. I also recognise that it's more innocently used when telling a story.
    • ChuckMcM 13y ago
      I can see that aspect of it, I typically use it as an equivalent to "In my experience ..." or to convey a result that is derived empirically rather than reasoned do by first principles. I consider such things more 'as a personal preference' rather than having any sort of definitive reasoning behind them.