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Original poster

So

8 replies

Pohtaytoes · 18/10/2021 20:04

A new trend I have noticed, especially here on Mumsnet, is starting a post with "so".

It feels wrong at the start of a sentence (although I don't think it's technically incorrect), but it feels far worse at the start of a paragraph. Is it just me that this annoys?

OP posts:
2lsinllama · 18/10/2021 22:29

It annoys me intensely. I see it a lot on Facebook. The other one that winds me up is when people ask for recommendations and finish the sentence ‘and…….go!’ Are we in a race? Go where? Is there a prize for the first person to give a recommendation? Baffles me.

MyPatronusIsAPenguin · 19/10/2021 06:58

I am so (no pun intended Grin) glad this annoys someone else. I know someone in IRL and if you ask her a question the next thing she says is so. Drives me mad! I haven't noticed if she does it when posting, I'll have to look!

ElftonWednesday · 19/10/2021 07:04

So, it has been around now for about ten years. So, have you never heard an academic or medical expert speak in a TV or radio interview in that time?

Use of language does change over time. In some cases "So" seems to have replaced "Well," or "Ok..."

I'm sure these terms sounded annoying to some ears when they appeared in the mid 20th century or earlier.

MotherOfCrocodiles · 19/10/2021 07:09

Everyone I know has been doing this for years. I remember the first friend to start with it bringing it back from a sabbatical in the USA in 2005.

I am a scientist though. Is this a scientist/medic habit as pp suggested? I thought everyone did it!

00100001 · 19/10/2021 07:15

Language evolves...get over it.

ElftonWednesday · 19/10/2021 07:24

No, it was just an example, @MotherOfCrocodiles. I guess I must have first heard it in radio interviews with experts in their field, anything where someone might be asked difficult questions and need a word to give them a moment to pause and think before replying! But it is widely used.

EarringsandLipstick · 19/10/2021 07:28

A new trend I have noticed

Surely not? This has been a 'thing' for quite a while, very noticeable in media interviews, for example.

I don't mind too much; it's often used as a placeholder for the person answering a question to gather their thoughts.

unnumber · 19/10/2021 23:32

I came across it in typo form the other day :
Lo, I said to her ...

And I thought, what happened to Lo? Could we have it back instead of so?

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