So - What's This New Tendency To Reply With The Word "so" Before Saying Anything.

[ToraToraTora]

eg: How old is your grand mother? So, she's 76! aaaarrrgggghhhh! there's a silly moo on the chase tonight and when Brad was doing his little interview she started every single reply with "so...." - anyway nearly put me daisy through the roger!

[Tuvok]

I hate when F1 drivers and MotoGP riders say "For sure......"

[Gromit]

So is better than Erm, or hmm.

It serves the same function, it is a pause for thought before relaying the answer.

[dannyk13]

Gromit // it is a pause for thought before relaying the answer.//
Usually there is no pause between so and the next word.It is just a bad habit.

[failedagain]

‘So so,’ quoth he, ‘these lets attend the time,
Like little frosts that sometime threat the spring’
— Lucrece, Shakespeare (1594)
“And I say, (if it so happens) So, my good Friends!—I am glad to see you”
— Pamela, Richardson (1741)

[ToraToraTora]

OG 07:54 - oops!

[andy-hughes]

It is a new speech pattern that is growing in popularity - as speech patterns do, and we have to learn to grit our teeth if we are irked by it.

It is similar to what comedian Rory McGrath referred to rather wonderfully as the 'moronic interrogative' - the tendency to lift the voice at the end of a sentence, as though asking a question, when none is present.

That can be traced to the dialogue in Neighbours and Home And Away, because it is a standard speech pattern for Australians, and seems to fit when they do it.

Its transfer to the British student population who watch the shows in droves means it has entered the speech patterns of young people, making them sound slightly odd in the process.

[andy-hughes]

I should point out that the use of the word 'So' in this context is entirely different from my light-hearted 'So' Rule on here.

That 'rule' applies when a poster starts a response post with the word 'So' and then continues to say something which the original post did not say, and then goes on to criticise the original poster for something they did not say.

[ummmm]

There is no 'so' rule on here. It's just in your head Andy!

[Bazile]

Yes I've also asked this question previously on here

You hear it a lot by people being interviewed and particularly by people with a knowledge of a particular subject

Interviewer

''Can you tell us the benefits of this new technique ....''

Interviewee

''So......''

[andy-hughes]

ummmm - // There is no 'so' rule on here. It's just in your head Andy! //

Clearly there is, because I point out the fact every time it is broken!!

[ummmm]

It's not a rule though. It's something you've made up and tbh it's pretty pathetic pointing it out.

[andy-hughes]

ummmm - // It's not a rule though. It's something you've made up and tbh it's pretty pathetic pointing it out. //

It's a light-hearted way of pointing out that someone is making an argument that does not exist, and you are taking it much too seriously. If it annoys you, ignore it.

[ummmm]

How can you ignore it?

[andy-hughes]

ummmm - // How can you ignore it? //

If you need me to tell you that, then maybe you shouldn't be posting on an interactive website.

[ToraToraTora]

oh dear, ummmm getting Alans in a Brahms as usual!

[ummmm]

You can't follow a thread unless you read the replies.

So, TTT, you agree with Andy's 'so' rule? :-)

[andy-hughes]

ummmm - // You can't follow a thread unless you read the replies. //

Reading replies is necessary to follow a thread - reacting as far as posting a response however, is not necessary.

[ToraToraTora]

I agree with the sentiment behind it, it's not a rule any more than the "savage rule" is a rule, it's just a bit of a light hearted tradition. People do make leaps of illogic and the "so rule" is often used to point that out. Just ignore it if it so disturbs you.

[Woodstock]

Better than 'Like' every third word!!!

[andy-hughes]

TTT - // I agree with the sentiment behind it, it's not a rule any more than the "savage rule" is a rule, it's just a bit of a light hearted tradition. People do make leaps of illogic and the "so rule" is often used to point that out. Just ignore it if it so disturbs you. //

Thank you!

I have always said, if people stop breaking the 'So' rule, there will be no need for me to point it out!!