starting posts with the word 'So'

KStaford · 13-03-2009 6:33pm #1

So I'm browsing boards a lot and I notice that more and more, people are starting their posts with the word 'So' (jut like I did here).
What's with this phenomenon?
It is an Americanism?
Is it a new trend that makes the author look casual?
Is it an attempt to seamlessly integrate the post into the readers context?

Cunny-Funt · 13-03-2009 6:33pm

So what?

tolosenc · 13-03-2009 6:34pm

So is an interjection generally used in modern English to set a relaxed tone in forthcoming speech.

My name is URL · 13-03-2009 6:34pm

So.. like.. whaterever

KStaford · 13-03-2009 6:34pm

Cunny-Funt wrote: »

So what?

my god that was a fast response, you must have responded within 10 seconds of me posting

Milky Moo · 13-03-2009 6:36pm

Cunny-Funt wrote: »

So what?

I'm still a rockstar!...sorry couldn't resist

Saibh · 13-03-2009 6:37pm

KStaford wrote: »

my god that was a fast response, you must have responded within 10 seconds of me posting

So, you forgot to put "so" at the beginning of your sentence.

asdasd · 13-03-2009 6:38pm

We should out it at the end like proper paddys, so.

TPD · 13-03-2009 6:38pm

Oi!

kraggy · 13-03-2009 6:41pm

Yes it's an Americanism and it's digusting.

I think it's from the Friends period.

asdasd · 13-03-2009 6:43pm

Actually, I am sure it is Irish, not American. Or that we have been doing it before friends at least.

WoollyRedHat · 13-03-2009 6:45pm

Soho

KStaford · 13-03-2009 6:53pm

I think 'so' has almost become a junk word. I suspect placing it at the start of posts or sentences is an americanism (which is awful).

It is also used as a bridge when people run out of things to say. Have you ever noticed that? particularly on TV etc where people are being interviewed.
e.g. Inerviewer asks some question. Respondant might say something like - "Yes, the organisation has been around for 2 years now and we are going from strength to strength so...."
They sorta grind to a halt on the 'so'. it pisses me right off.

kraggy · 13-03-2009 6:55pm

asdasd wrote: »

Actually, I am sure it is Irish, not American. Or that we have been doing it before friends at least.

There's no way it preceded Friends. I did the leaving cert in 1996 and it wasn't around then, but Friends was.

Black Swan · 13-03-2009 6:59pm

So so thread.

sunshine007 · 13-03-2009 7:00pm

So build a bridge and get over it

DonkeyStyle \o/ · 13-03-2009 7:07pm

I find myself doing that sometimes, trailing off with a "sooo...", if it's any consolation I find it irritating when I do it.

I think in my head it means, "I'm prepared to fill the silence from this point on, until you come up with something to say... and when you do, just jump right in with it".

kraggy · 13-03-2009 7:13pm

I think trailing off with a so is fine. It simply signifies that that's all you have to say on the matter and definitely isn't American.

But this nonsense of "So I was drinking my latte..".

Argh! Wrecks my head.

Ajos · 13-03-2009 8:20pm

From Seamus Heaney's introduction to his translation of Beowulf:

Conventional renderings of hwæt, the first word of the poem, tend towards the archaic literary, with ‘lo’, ‘hark’, ‘behold’, ‘attend’ and – more colloquially – ‘listen’ being some of the solutions offered previously. But in Hiberno-English Scullion-speak, the particle ‘so’ came naturally to the rescue, because in that idiom ‘so’ operates as an expression that obliterates all previous discourse and narrative, and at the same time functions as an exclamation calling for immediate attention. So, ‘so’ it was:

So. The Spear-Danes in days gone by
and the kings who ruled them had courage and greatness.
We have heard of those princes’ heroic campaigns.

So it's his fault. Beowulf's.

Ajos · 13-03-2009 8:22pm

Ajos wrote: »

So it's his fault. Beowulf's.

"So" in this instance meaning "therefore". Just to be clear.

asdasd · 13-03-2009 8:23pm

Ajos. Thanks for that:

I was googling for that very piece as I wanted to prove that starting with so is hiberno-english. I remember Heaney said it, but wasnt sure where.

asdasd · 13-03-2009 8:24pm

"So" in this instance meaning "therefore". Just to be clear.

In it's proper context it means, following on from that.

Ajos · 13-03-2009 8:28pm

asdasd wrote: »

In it's proper context it means, following on from that.

But... isn't that also what "therefore" means? More or less.

Anyway, I feel your pain. I tried searching before I remembered. Googling for the word "so" is extremely counterproductive!

KStaford · 13-03-2009 8:30pm

asdasd wrote: »

In it's proper context it means, following on from that.

actually, this is what I was suggesting in my opener when I said "Is it an attempt to seamlessly integrate the post into the readers context?"

honest I was, I just worded it badly

Abi · 13-03-2009 8:42pm

Sew yore ärse with a needle and thread.

My name is URL · 13-03-2009 8:47pm

I always thought this was an Oirish thing, ya know.. from those D4 asshats

starting posts with the word 'So'

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