So you know this latest trend of starting sentences with “So”

[123autumn]

So you know how people do this? So I find it really annoying. So stop.

French is my first language so I do it a lot as it’s a common start of sentences in French

The point here is that in standard English until very recently it was normal and correct to say 'well', not 'good' in contexts like that.

How are you today?
I'm well, thank you, how are you?

How would you rate yourself as a tennis player?
Good, actually. I used to play for my school and college teams.

It's a very obvious and pronounced shift for those of us over 40, I would say.

So? Ce n'est meme pas un mot en francais. Alors, peut etre .

So Graham Norton.
It's his book. He does it all the time and used it for his title.

Oh I thought it meant the book was ‘so’ Graham Norton as in saying something is so me because it’s right up your street! 😂

So what?

It’s been a thing for donkey’s years. Yes, it’s annoying.

I loathe it. I grabbed a treat, grabbed the last one, grabbed a few minutes to chill. Bleurgh.

It's so affected. See also throwing on clothes, chucking things in a pan, bunging stuff in a slow cooker, whacking dinner in the oven.

Oh and "rocking up".

It's so visceral and violent.

Yeah I'm with you on all of that Show of Hands. People should throw some clothes on, rock up & grab whatever they have bunged in the slow cooker then read a bloody dictionary and find some new words.

The reply "Good, thanks" means that they are doing pretty ok physically and mentally. It's much better than the non committal "fine" IMO.

None of these things irritate me as much as preposition dropping. I just tell myself that languages are constantly evolving and my finding it mildly annoying won't stand in the way of that.

Maybe so, but saying 'I'm well, thanks' meant exactly the same thing. It's a mystery why the adverb was replaced with the adjective. One of those weird language changes that just happen every so often.

Actually, thinking about that, well can be either adverb or adjective, but good used to be solely an adjective. I am well, i.e. in good health, or Things are going well. Saying 'I am good' was pretty unusual because it sounded boastful - 'I am a good person'.

Ha I literally thought this when I read the title of this thread 😅

Or in NI... "so I did"

@Whataretalkingabout Et comment ca ce
dit en Anglais ‘alors’….? That was exactly my point. In French, we say ‘alors’ all the time to start sentence. In English, this leads to habit of saying “So…..”. I didn’t mean that French people literally say the English word ‘so’.

Not recent at all imo.

Good at what? Or do only naughty people drink tea?

I am trying to work out if 'so' or 'like' is better or worse?

'Like' is definitely worse because it can recur throughout the sentence. 'So' is over and done with at the start.

One person I work with ends every sentence with 'OK?' - in a rather patronising tone. That's even worse than 'like'.

I was just going to say it's totally different if it goes at the end so.
I love the Irish 'Now.' As a complete sentence.

I'm much more annoyed by 'Look,' at the beginning of a sentence- Richard Osman does it constantly. So patronising. (I'm allowed to start the previous sentence with so!)

Not sure it's a recent trend ? Think I've always done it . I have read on here before that some people find it annoying . Sorry !

So, I um can't be bothered to read the whole thread yeah so like anyways what I find more annoying is like when people end sentences with 'so em yeah'.
I went to Tescos and this penguin attacked me and it was really funny so em yeah. Vacant stare. Pout looking into middle distance.

@PosyPrettyToes Saying 'alors' in French as a habit has really nothing to do with why one says 'so' in English at the beginning of a sentence. You may be translating from French when speaking English but that is not the case with most English speakers. But that's OK. We get it.

@Whataretalkingabout I was explaining that the habit in French is why I, personally do it. That was the whole point of what I said.