So

[Nennypops]

Getting hacked off with the tendency to start a post with "So" - e.g. "So I went to see MIL today ..." WHY? In that context it means something like "Therefore" or "As a result of", which is clearly not what they actually mean, and it adds absolutely nothing. There is just no reason to put that "So" in there. It adds three key strokes completely unnecessarily. Why do people do it?

Because they are bumholes

Watched too many stand up comics?

Sorry, they've watched too many ...

God knows why. It is very annoying.

There is no grammar rule that says you can't begin a sentence with a co-ordinating conjunction such as "so". It's just a question of stylistics.

Sentences beginning with a gerund however....
<a class="break-all" href="//.aldora89.tumblr.com/post/36096974674/on-beginning-sentences-with-gerunds-stop-for-the-love" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">.aldora89.tumblr.com/post/36096974674/on-beginning-sentences-with-gerunds-stop-for-the-love

You can certainly begin a sentence with a conjunction, and I think it's often a very useful way of expressing something. However, that is usually in the middle of a piece of writing, and relates to what has gone before - e.g. "X is a knob. And he genuinely thinks he's brilliant"; or "X is a knob. Which is a pity for someone in his line of work". You wouldn't start a piece of writing with "which". It's particularly irritating with a term like "so" which by virtue of its meaning has to relate back to something else.

I find it amusing how often I hear people being interviewed on the radio, particularly on science subjects, and starting their first answer with "so".

INT: Dr Smith, tell us about the experiment you did that led you to this discovery.
DR SMITH: Soooo, we took mice that had been genetically modified...

I think it's become a conversational way of starting to set out a new idea etc.

See also:
Right, blah blah blah...
OK, blah blah blah...
Usually followed by some highly insightful and very important instructions about how to best deal with 'd'h or a naughty toddler.

People seem now to begin with "So", where previously they'd've begun with "Well". More & more common & more & more irritating

Two different things surely?

In broadcast interviews I suspect it is because the speakers who first started doing this had received media training and been told to start with "So" - so that what they said would sound smooth and coherent when quoted. And of course it was then copied by a million people who use it indiscriminately. It is intensely annoying.

In a post I actually find it quite endearing. I'm not generally fond of over familiarity but "So... I had coffee with my DM this morning..." would probably draw me into the poster's world. Probably because, as someone mentioned above, it's a recognisable format from stand-up comedy and suggests an amusing story is coming.

I agree, Zero about "So" at the beginning of posts suggesting an amusing tale is to follow - much less irritating when read, than when heard on the radio at the beginning of some dreary article