When did everyone begin starting sentences with the word "so"?

[Coventina]

Did I miss a memo?



I opened an email today that began:

So a family member died....

(Just one example of many I've seen recently)

[lapfog_1]

1. So... I blame it on "Sound of Music"

Do, a deer, a female deer
Re, a drop of golden sun
Mi, a name, I call myself
Fa, a long, long way to run
So, a needle pulling thread
La, a note to follow So
Ti, a drink with jam and bread
That will bring us back to Do, oh, oh, oh

[pandr32]

2. Servers describe food items that way, too.

So, we have for you today...

I hate it.

[spooky3]

4. I had coworkers that started almost every sentence that way.

Have also heard it a lot on NPR.

Really annoying.

[pandr32]

15. It is annoying.

It seems to be a trend of sloppy English.

[rsdsharp]

3. There's a guy on America's Test Kitchen who does that.

I used to count the number of times he said “so” in each segment. “OK, so Chris. . .”

[pandr32]

16. Good thing you weren't taking shots.

[MLAA]

5. My sister ends about every second sentence with so when speaking.

Like nails on a chalkboard to me. I finally stopped answering with so what? I have to bite my tongue every time.

[Coventina]

6. I forgot about the "so" at the end!

I have a co-worker who does a variation, she ends almost every sentence with "so, yeah."

[Hugh_Lebowski]

7. I consider that a way to not belabor a point/spell it out

Bit of a 'let the person figure out what the point is to what you previously said' type of deal.

It's a way to tell the person you trust their intelligence, so ...

[intrepidity]

18. Concur nt

[MLAA]

31. I would t mind a few so, yeahs just to break up the monotony of so many sentences ending in so!

[LuckyLib]

8. About the time that every fourth word in a sentence was "like".

[List left]

10. I think you are right. I was trying to remember what the other word was...

Right is another..Not so bad when an agreement from another person but annoying when it is the original speaker. Right?

[LakeArenal]

12. They use "right" a lot on home decorating shows.

Decorator says “It’s really nice, right?”

What is homeowner supposed to say on tv? Hell no?

[List left]

9. I remember it happening in the 60's.

What really bothers me is the use of te instead of to. I heard myself say it and was shocked. "I am going te the store" No idea when I started and now it seems ubiquitous.

Also the conflation of then and than I believe began or at least was promulgated through WOW and other mmorpg. (massively multiplayer online role-playing games)

Linguistic drift...

[LakeArenal]

11. I do it. It's a habit, you know? You know, Like it's a like a pause before you like say something.

That’s like annoying I guess. So, you know what I’m like sayin’? Edit to add: Right?

[Doc Sportello]

13. Ronan Farrow uses it all the time

I like him and he has done great work but almost every response to a question begins ... "So," ...

[intrepidity]

19. Right. He does, and it doesn't bother me.

Truly, abiut the only two linguistic things that *really* bother me are: 1) "nu-ku-lar" (which I was extremely dismayed to read, on the Merriam-Webster site no less, was an "acceptable" pronunciation now because it is so ubiquitous, grrrrrrrrrr!) and 2) vocal fry.

Most everything else I tolerate and likely even employ myself. But those two just really rile me up.

[rsdsharp]

20. I'm with you on vocal fry. It's a natural occurrence of talking through your nose.

It seems ubiquitous with young women. I especially hate it when it results in the word “you” being pronounced as “yow.”

The other thing is the trend of PA announcers holding the last syllable of the last word. “It’s a threeeeeeerreeeeereeeeeee!!!!!!!” I guess it started with the “Let’s get ready to rumbllllllllllle!” guy but I hate it. It sounds so unprofessional to me. The first aircheck I cut had me saying “Good afternooooooon!” It was embarrassing, and I never did it again.

[Doc Sportello]

21. I think that pronunciation of nuclear goes back to Bush 2

Which is a stupid way to get included in the dictionary.

Farrow's use of 'So' doesn't so much bother me as I think it is funny that someone so articulate would use it so often. We all use what are called filler words like 'ahh' or 'like', but he starts his sentences that way.

I didn't even know what vocal fry is till I looked it up. Reminded me of the old Smothers Brothers joke when Dickie told Tommy to lower his voice (meaning volume) and Tommy started talking in a deep voice. That always made me laugh.

[Bev54]

14. Probably started with "So what"

[LuckyLib]

17. About the time that every fourth word in a sentence was "like".

[mnhtnbb]

32. That drives me bonkers. The so, not so much.

[callous taoboy]

22. Ending sentences with, "Does that make sense?"

Just as annoying. I've been gently trying to get a friend to refrain from saying it.

[yellowdogintexas]

26. When I say something that might seem contradictory or

confusing, I will use that. Especially when trying to make a point in a discussion

[jcgoldie]

27. I use that one all the time

Maybe I get a small reprieve since I'm a HS math teacher actually checking for comprehension.

[callous taoboy]

34. Definitely.

I'm also a teacher, younger kids, so I don't say "Does that make sense" because I always assume that to half of them it doesn't make sense until they've had more time with an idea. I say, "Thumbs up if you get it, thumb sideways if you sort of get it, thumbs down if you don't get it." Gotta check for understanding frequently with the young ones.

[a kennedy]

23. Lotsa contestants say "so" when they are introduced on Jeopardy.......

(I am sorry, as I do it too)

[Emile]

24. I haven't noticed anything like that around here.

Maybe it's your location?

[Hotler]

25. When did "so" become a unit of measure?

It was so heavy.
It was so long.
It's so hot.
I'm so happy.

The "so" Nazi are in the house.

[yellowdogintexas]

28. I am 74 and use of "so" has always been there.

The comparison ("it was so hot" for example) seems to be kind of an abbreviation. Example: It was so hot I baked an apple in my car. It was so cold the dog caught a frisbee and it snapped in half. I was so angry I could have spit nails.

This grammar discussion may be helpful
http://partofspeech.org/what-part-of-speech-is-so/

Also this: So is one of seven coordinating conjunctions represented by the mnemonic FANBOYS: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, and so. When these coordinating conjunctions connect two independent clauses, the conjunction is always preceded by a comma.

if you google on uses of 'so' there are lots of interesting articles. This ancient English major found them to be a great deal of fun

So what are you waiting for?

[3catwoman3]

29. So, it appears the "so" is a grammatical...

…jack of all trades.

Interesting link. Thanks for posting it. I love stuff like this.

[sl8]

30. Thanks for that.

I really didn't care for my English classes in school, because it just seemed so darned arbitrary, unlike math and science.

Over time, my attitude has changed and posts like yours and articles like the one you linked are largely responsible.

[frogmarch]

33. Maybe at the same time as

people began starting sentences with "But" and "And."

[pressbox69]

35. So?

[targetpractice]

36. "So" is a discourse marker along with "well" and "like"...

Here's an article about it...

Like [so, and well are] often found grazing at the beginning of sentences, in a position that is generally thought of as a discourse marker. A discourse marker is the word you use at the beginning of a sentence when you say "Well, I think that using like in that way makes you sound foolish." It serves a very similar role to the word at the beginning of the sentence uttered in response to your disapproval: "Like, that’s just your opinion."

https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/read-this-if-you-hate-the-word-like

[LudwigPastorius]

37. I started to notice, several years ago, that interviewees on NPR were doing...

this very thing when they would answer a question. Once I became aware of it, I started to notice it everywhere, and it really started to get under my skin.

I guess the written use of this unnecessary sentence starter is just taking things to the next level.