Does it bug anybody else when a post starts out with "So....." ? Like, So I just got a new Prius.... So I just ran out of gas.... So what kind of tires should I buy... It really bugs me, does it bug anybody else? Most of the posts are well thought out, and well written, as well as informative, but the beginning: "So ..." makes no sense to me. Suppose you walk up to somebody on the street, and say "So, I was wondering, which way is the bank?", etc. Does anybody actually talk like that? So, I was just wondering. Sorry.
I think I am guilty of the noted infraction on a regular basis. It's a stylistic choice which implies an on-going communication. Inappropriate for your first-ever post to a chat board, but it gives a conversational tone to an informal ramble.
My sister seems to begin every conversation with "So...bla bla bla". It might as well be "bla bla bla" because after hearing "So..." all I can think about is not screaming and I don't hear much else after that. She also manages to start a lot of other sentences in the conversation with "So...". If this is my biggest problem then life's pretty good.
Thanks Tom, you saved us all the trouble. My pet hate in a conversation is, I turned around and said .... He/she turned around and said .... I turned around and said .... Etc. I get so dizzy.
Talking about "said", mine is "goes" in place of it. So she goes "No way!" and I go "Yeah" and she goes "Get out of here!" I and I "Really!"...
I routinely violate multiple grammatical rules on a regular basis. So what? And if I want to start a sentence with a preposition or even a conjunction who cares. But in the end, as long as the information has been conveyed communication has occurred. So it's not a question of not knowing better. But rather, a question of choice. And I like to think of it as a level of familiarity and informality.
So, I confess.... I'm an offender of the original point of contention. And it bugs me!! I started noticing it lately that whenever someone would ask me a question, especially if it required some background clarification first, I'd start with 'So...' I've been consciously trying to change that to even just pause or say 'Hmmm...' instead, as though I'm thinking about the response, which is probably what I'm doing when I reply with the automatic 'So...' So, I'm guilty charged!! Oops! There I did it again!
Remember that the "go" is optional in the 21st century style of narration. An adept teenager would say "So I'm like, 'No way,' and she's like 'OMG, that totally sucks.'"
Thanks for the clarification. I am never going to be able to write modern teenage dialog. I can't even *begin* to get my brain to work like that. Tom
I don't mind the occasional "So . . ." as much as I have come to hate the phrase, "So anyway. . . " I have regular conversations with a person who starts every other sentence with "so anyway. . ." and that's after the rambling multi-"and" sentences that go on for minutes at a time.
A mild annoyance is the double "is" when the sentence calls for a single "is." It's too early in the morning to think of an example, but I hear it a lot.
Very interesting thread. I was beginning to think there was something wrong with me because I find so many of these items of speech irritating. Sometimes I wonder if the difference between "envy" and "jealousy" is taught in school. The problem may be that most of today's teachers don't know the difference. Ya know what I'm sayin??
On that note -- Wasn't there an 80's rock group called "(Was) not Was" ? Or wasn't there? Or weren't there?
