Why And When Did People Start Sentences With "So"

[barnaclebill58]

So it's rife regardless as to whether it is an opening gambit, a question or a reply.
Mike "So John when is football restarting?".
John "So that's something the PFA have been discussing today"
Anne "So Sainsburys will only let you buy two tins of soup"
Can't remember this being the norm until recently -Covid?

[dannyk13]

Quite recently and it is very annoying.

[shoota]

So it is...

[douglas9401]

It was brought in to replace 'actually' as the go-to start for middle managers and other surplus operatives to keep their sense of self worth going in spite of all contrary indicators.

Going forward.

[barry1010]

Thing is, I can't remember, like

[retrocop]

Just as annoying,to me, as the answer 'absolutely' in an affected tone.

[naomi24]

Life is a continual learning curve ...

[Mozz71]

So what?

[alavahalf]

Bill you possibly come from a time when keeping your grammar in order meant something .. detention and possibly fifty lines for not doing so .. perhaps ?
These days it is quite acceptable and possibly trendy to have less of a grip on grammar ... predictive text has put an end to learning to spell a complete word ..
So there you have it !

[TheChair]

People used to start with "I say" or "By the way", it's a perfectly valid way of ensuring that you have someone's attention before completing the sentence. There are equivalents in most languages. In Greece we might say "Λοιπον" or "Να σου πω".

[fiction-factory]

I have a friend who for the last 50 years starts nearly every sentence with "the point is...". It used to be 'basically' or 'right' for me. "Here's the thing" is one I've noticed recently from people like Sandy Tosvig

[elliemay1]

'So' was the norm long before Covid. I detest it!

[elliemay1]

'Here's what I think...', Jeremy Clarkson uses this when asked for help on WWTBAM

[starmack]

Ireland’s Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan does daily press conference during CoronaVirus crisis with almost every answer beginning with word ‘ So.’

[tiggerblue10]

I say it without realising I'm saying it.

[Gromit]

E. J. Thribb is the fictitious poet-in-residence at the satirical magazine Private Eye since 1972. Thribb writes a fortnightly ' In Memoriam', In honour of a recently deceased person, with the first line almost invariably reading: "So. Farewell then...".

So. Nearly 50 years of so.

[vulcan42]

I've noticed recently that "so" seems to be disappearing, but unfortunately, it's being replaced with the equal annoying "look".

[tiggerblue10]

I had a senior manager who at every meeting used the phrase 'in terms of....' at the beginning of nearly every sentence.

[elliemay1]

Others I don't like:
'To cut a long story short...' (when they don't)
'To be perfectly honest...' (when they aren't)
'At the end of the day...' (when it's not)

[Mamyalynne]

It's certainly a variant of many similar ways of beginning a sentence and is quite a long standing one too.

Things like that rarely bother me, I prefer to listen to what is said as a whole.

[fiction-factory]

So, 'so' first started to irritate me 5-6 years ago when I noticed everyone questioned on Money Box or the Today programme on radio 4 would start an answer with it, usually indicating they were trying to defend the indefensible or were about to answer their preferred question.