So...

[thenewbrunette]

Is it just me or has the word "so" started becoming over used recently to start sentences?

e.g.
Just saw an Amazon advert with a woman saying "So Amazon Prime is really great" or similar. Surely the word "so" is redundant here?

I have also heard people answering questions like "How many children do you have?" with "So, I have 3 children, Blah, Blah and Blah."

Is it only me who finds this quite irritating? Probably...

It does seem to be a new trend and I would agree that it's unnecessary with both of your examples but for some reason I've started to want to do this myself, not as in your examples but when launching into a story or an op. No idea why. I do know that it annoys people so resist the temptation but I'd love to say: "So, I was walking along in the park and all of a sudden..."

It's kind of like "Once upon a time", maybe.

I don't know if it's recent, but it does feel like it's increased in spoken media in recent years. It can be a bit irritating, although I don't know why. I've tended to notice it when scientists are being interviewed (or anyone else being asked to explain a technical subject). It suggests a kind of "where do I start? So, one way to explain it,..."

Have a look using 'Advanced Search' there's a looooooong thread about this