So, I was talking to someone the other day and they told me…well, something…but it was utterly lost on me, because I was far too amused at this suddenly über prevalent use of a conjunction in the start of nearly every sentence I now hear in the wild!
So.
So, this has somehow permeated all levels of society, to where even doctorates are using it as their First Word in not only a sentence not requiring linking, nor any other adverbial nor intensifying modification of any sort, but in initial conversation (I was watching Joe Rogan Questions Everything show and some Ph.D. started his sentence with it). So, this got me to wondering.
So, it totally reminds me of the rise of “really,” of which I was guilty of using. As if.
So, I performed some half-assed research, and not only are there claims of First Use, but actual gorilla-like chest poundings of pride of discovery, through Silicon Valley Coder Geek usage; I also found this article, this article, and this one. So, I did briefly consider the likes of “well,” “uh,” and “um,” but it was really more of the “really” that crossed my mind. So, ever since it’s recent ubiquitous employment, I have…once or twice—no more, I swear—caught myself using it, and immediately terminated said sentence and started over, even if I was grammatically and stylistically correct; it so confounds, because I’m not a “trendy” guy, and any TrendSpeak does not go well with my tongue nor psyche. So, these articles throw around all these considerations and conclusions, terms and phrases, like “algorithmic certitude,” “delaminater,””echoes the influence of a science- and data-driven culture,” of how our culture is “a culture of empathy gaining steam in a globalized world,” how our words are “chosen for relevance to the listener,” or how we all “live now in fear that a conversation could snap at any moment…”
So, I don’t give the masses near as much credit as some of these highfalutin bloggers do, certainly not that it was intentionally chosen for any relevance whatsoever…the only reason I believe it’s so damned popular is simply because…it just sounds cool.
So, deal with it.
So right. My wife uses “now” to begin many of her sentences, as in “Now, did you know the refrigerator is making a noise?” I usually respond with, “Now? Not later?”
Anyway, those linguistic devices are really more of a throat clearing than anything else. They’re kind of a way of saying, “I’d like your attention,” or “I don’t really know what I’m going to say yet, but I’m starting to talk.” The fun is in taking them literally and turning them back on the speaker.
Stitch, great idea! Stitch, now, instead of beginning all my sentences with “So,” I’m using “Stitch,” and see who catches on! Stitch, thanks, Joe! :-]
So…what are you trying to say?
Stitch, you got me there….
So, it’s not a bad thing really? 🙂 Being a writer, I know better, and I usually go back and try to trim the OCCASIONAL (ha!) “so” “but” and “and” I’ll use at the beginning of a sentence (fun writing & tweeting only, of course – when I’m trying to write “conversationally”), knowing that few people would understand my dilemma. It also pains me to end a sentence with a preposition, but sometimes the correct version sounds very…stuffy. Whaddaya gonna do?
Have you issues about to where to adhere prepositions? Checketh at the following link: http://epiac1216.wordpress.com/2012/10/02/the-origins-of-the-rule-of-the-dangling-prepositon/….
:-]
So, tell me, for real, what you really think…
😈