We have some 20 somethings in our IT Department, and whenever they begin to explain something techy to me, they start with, "So...blah, blah, blah." Therefore, I thought that use of "so" was something seen in the younger generation.
Today, at a conference, two physicians used "so" very often when people asked them questions. Now, they were both rather young, for physicians. However, physicians are never that young because of their 4 years of college and 4 years of medical school and 1 year of internship and 4-8 years of residency and 1-3 years of fellowship... Therefore, this "so" for starting sentences doesn't seem to be age related.
Is this something new? Or has it been around for awhile and I am just realizing it? Or are these just isolated situations?
I think this is the recency illusion. Once you start noticing something you notice every occurrence of it. I think it's been around for a long time though I lack the research skills to look into just how long.
"No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money." Samuel Johnson.
Folks have been saying it as long as I can remember.
Yes, I've heard it before. I was not clear.
People do say "so" when starting sentences. But in these cases, it has been with every, single answer to a question. I don't believe I have seen that before, though perhaps Bob is correct.
My question should have been more clear, as I indicated above. While I've seen it (and probably said it myself) when answering questions, these examples (two very young people in our IT Department and two 30-40 year-old physicians) literally said it every time they answered a question.
Perhaps that's what all of you have seen before. If I say, for example, "What is your favorite word?" You'd say, "So...my favorite word is "epicaricacy." And so on with every single question. In my opinion, that kind of frequency is terribly annoying and makes me focus on the "so" and not the answer.
I had a teacher once who prefaced every answer to every question with "no"." No, you're right", I once heard him say. So, I have been so annoyed that I shall never start another answer with it, ever. So, how'd I do?
Here might be the difference. When we were talking about "cool" in another thread, several said that it should only be used with informal communication. I think that goes for "so" when it's used to answer questions. Therefore, the physicians, in this formal meeting (with attendees from all over the world), answering "so..." to every question annoyed me. It would have been similar to their saying, "Cool!" had someone told them about their use of the Angoff standard setting procedure.
So...I've been observing not only my use of "so," but others' as well, because of this thread. I have decided that I was wrong about "so." Indeed, people use it to start sentences all the time, and that includes me.
Proof, I was just following up to say, after observation of the use of the word "so," I've found that it is used all the time to start sentences, including by yours truly. If you recall, my original post here had assumed that starting sentences with so was seen more in the younger generation, but wasn't all that common. I was completely wrong, and I wanted to admit it.
Kalleh, I know what you mean about it's being annoying, but I know I do it myself. It's just a habit of speech, I think, which as you've explained, you've discovered.
The one I find myself doing, which also annoys me, is inserting "like" into sentences. Like, I shouldn't have to throw that word in there. It's just, like, so lame!
I so do not like when I use like like that!
Wordmatic
Posts: 1390 | Location: Near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Kalleh, I know what you mean about it's being annoying
This is probably the first time I have read a phrase where the word "it's" and the word "its" can be substituted one for the other without significantly upsetting its meaning.
"...I know what you mean about it is being annoying..." (as written with the "it's" abbreviation) and "...I know what you mean about its being annoying..." (using "being" as a gerund). Either makes sense in the overall context of this thread, although I think that the second sense is probably better.
Richard English
Posts: 8038 | Location: Partridge Green, West Sussex, UK
There are two speech affectations I find uncommonly annoying. The first is someone who constantly interrupts the conversation with "You know what I'm say'n?" The other is to say, out of nowhere, "THAT'S what I'm talking about!" when an event occurs. Other than that, I'm fine. Although I do get a slight pain in my ribcage every os often (which reminds me I don't like to hear the "t" in "often") but other than that, I'm fine. You know what I'm say'n?
Ah, yes, WM, I don't like it when I say it either, but I most definitely do say it. Maybe my New Year's resolution will be not to use "so" to start sentences.
I do remember as kids we'd say, "So what?" and my grandmother would say, "Sew buttons on!"
If it's any consolation, that use of so has been around for a long time. From the OED Online:
quote:
B Signification.
I. 5 c. As an introductory particle. Also so, so. This and the two following uses are common in Shakespeare's plays.
1593 SHAKES. Lucr. 330 So so, quoth he; these lets attend the time. 1602How to choose Gd. Wife in Hazl. Dodsley IX. 55 So, let me see: my apron. 16051st Pt. Jeronimo I. i. 77 So, so, Andrea must be sent imbassador? 1741 RICHARDSON Pamela III. 251 And I say..So, my good Friends!{em}I am glad to see you. 1775 SHERIDAN Rivals II. ii, So, so, ma'am! I humbly beg pardon.
II 10 b. (a) As an introductory particle, without a preceding statement (but freq. implying one).
1710 SWIFT Jrnl. to Stella 21 Sept., So you have got into Presto's lodgings; very fine, truly! 1777 SHERIDAN Sch. Scandal II. iii, Well{em}so one of my nephews is a wild rogue, hey? 1809 BYRON in R. C. Dallas Corr. of B. (1825) I. 95 So Lord G* is married to a rustic! Well done! 1881 JOWETT Thucyd. I. 42 And so we have met at last, but with what difficulty!
(b) [Reflecting Yiddish idioms.] Without implication of a preceding statement, or with concessive force: = well then, in that case, very well; also (introducing interrogative clauses) with adversative force: = but then, anyway.
1950 B. MALAMUD in Partisan Rev. XVII. 666 Miriam returned after 11.30... ‘So where did you go?’ Feld asked pleasantly. 1952 M. PEI Story of English 182 The adverb so at the beginning of a sentence (‘So I'll pay for it!’), probably of Yiddish origin, occurs frequently in conversation. 1960 ‘E. MCBAIN’ Give Boys Great Big Hand i. 4 ‘I warn you..I ain't got no wine.’ ‘So who wants wine?’ 1977 F. BRANSTON Up & Coming Man v. 49 ‘How much profit..?’ ‘Impossible to do more than make a wild guess.’ ‘So make a wild guess.’
c. so what?: a retort made to an assertion, implying that the problem expressed has no immediate interest or obvious solution. Also as attrib. phr. orig. U.S.
1934 M. H. WESEEN Dict. Amer. Slang 399 So what?{em}What of it? What does it matter?.. What does that have to do with the matter? Your remark has no bearing or significance. 1935 F. BALDWIN Innocent Bystander v. 83 ‘He has a wife,’ said the girl gloomily. ‘So what?’ asked Angela carelessly. 1938 C. LANDERY (title) So what? a young man's odyssey. 1949Hansard Commons 21 Nov. 104 That is unfortunate and disappointing but, to use an American expression, ‘So what?’ 1953 in Shorter Oxf. Eng. Dict. (1955). Add., The tragedy of the ‘So what?’ generation. 1960 M. A. SINDALL Matey xiii. 177 She suddenly yawned and flung the magazine on to the seat. ‘So what!’ she murmured. 1968 C. WATSON Charity ends at Home x. 126 No, the fact is that Henny and I got along as well as most. Not around each other's necks all the time, but so what? 1970 T. HILTON Pre-Raphaelites viii. 201 Burne-Jones pushed art so far away from this world that our reactions to some of his paintings are of a merely so-what kind.
When my kids were young they used to flippantly respond, "So what? Who cares?" Drove me mad.
And so not has made into the OED:
quote:
c. so not—: emphatically not—. 1997N.Y. Mag. 25 Aug. 152/3 Napoleons are so not fun to eat. 1999 S. RUSHDIE Ground beneath her Feet (2000) xvi. 501 We guess communism just got buried in the rubble there somewhere. And those Ceau{sced}escus? So not missed. [b]2005[/b[ J. M. CZECH Grace Happens xi. 62 You've seen the carousel and it's so not cool to be seen here if you're over nine years old.
When my kids were young they used to flippantly respond, "So what? Who cares?"
Nowadays their reply is "Whatever". Although since old fogies like us are now fairly familiar with it, they've probably got a different response that they use amongst themselves.
Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
And Richard, my punctuation of "its" as "it's" was definitely an error! I am so annoyed when I do that, but I do often find myself adding apostrophes where they don't belong in writing rapidly in threads like these!
So sorry!
swordmatic
Posts: 1390 | Location: Near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Originally posted by wordmatic: And Richard, my punctuation of "its" as "it's" was definitely an error! I am so annoyed when I do that, but I do often find myself adding apostrophes where they don't belong in writing rapidly in threads like these!
So sorry!
swordmatic
I thought maybe it was - but the interesting point was that the sentence still worked in context - which is rarely the case.
Richard English
Posts: 8038 | Location: Partridge Green, West Sussex, UK
"...I know what you mean about it is being annoying..."
Funny. It must be a rightpondian thing, but this sentence is not syntactically correct for me. The about that introduces the complement phrase precludes its being annoying being anything but a gerund. Others?
I agree that it's not a good sentence and the gerund is better. But in the context of the thread - which was to do with the irritation caused by starting sentences with "so" - it made sense.
Usually, when "it's" is wrongly used instead of "its" (or vice versa) the resulting phrase makes no sense at all.
Richard English
Posts: 8038 | Location: Partridge Green, West Sussex, UK
As I wrote, it is far from being a good sentence but it does make awkward sense. My point was that in most constructions, the use of "it's" instead of "its" makes the sentence compete nonsense.
For example, "The car is in it's garage" translates as "The car is in it is garage" or "The car is in it has garage", neither of which sentences makes any kind of sense at all.
Richard English
Posts: 8038 | Location: Partridge Green, West Sussex, UK
