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I don't think it's good practice really. Often I hear people starting a whole new line of conversation with the word, but I guess the way I was taught was that the word should be used as a response to something.
Am I right or has the English language moved on since I was at school?
So what?
I have them with the wife...
it's usually...
"So, i was thinking i may buy a motorbike this weekend....."
Which actually translates to
"i bought a bike yesterday, but i'm building you up to it gently and pretending i'm waiting for your approval"
The worst is when they start with 'so....'
then finish the sentence with a questioning '....yeah?'
I work with someone who does this all the time. Just about every sentence. He may die in a hail of bullets soon
"So, here's the deal" seems to be a staple opener in the big bang theory
It is wrong.
That thing where people start a sentence with so. Well, that.
English is a rich and varied language, you can pretty much do what you like with it. I think there's more to worry about then the word 'so' at the start of a sentence. 🙂
So, what's the problem again?
My line manager starts most of his sentences with 'So...' during team meetings.
I think it's just an alternative to 'Um' or 'Erm' whilst he's formulating what he's going to say next.
So much time has been wasted trying to condescend to others about the way they speak.
It's a rhetorical device redolent of the type if seen-it-all, sneering, cynical bawhum you'd get from Top Gear presenters and the like.
"So, they started letting immigrants clean racetracks."
You can imagine Richard Hammond narrating a whole programme, starting every sentence with the word, "So...", followed by a world-weary pause. 😕
So [url= http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/is-this-really-how-to-start-a-sentence ]many STW threads on the same topic[/url].
There's plenty of well written prose out there in the FT, the Economist, the King James bible, etc, which breaks "grammatical rules".
I suspect a lot of the annoyance comes more from pre-existing feelings about the writer/speaker than anything else. "There's that * ____, being a * again, starting his sentences with a conjuction. How I loathe and detest [s]his use of the english language[/s] him."
ou can imagine Richard Hammond narrating a whole programme, starting every sentence with the word, "So...", followed by a world-weary pause.
when you put it like that I can see the problem..
otherwise
Am I right or has the English language moved on since I was at school?
Languages are a living thing and evolve all the time, otherwise we'd all be speaking like we were in a Shakespeare play.
Don't get me started on "just".
"Just wanted to ping you an email..."
Cretins.
Languages are[s] a [/s] living thing[b][u][i]s[/i][/u][/b]
Go and sit in the corner and think about what you've just done.
just saw this on twitter and it seemed apposite for this thread;
[i]My colleague just used the word 'inbox' as a verb. Don't worry, I put him straight in a headlock and ran him into a filing cabinet.[/i]
I started sentences with so and just quite often. I'm not sorry.
[i]I started sentences with so and just quite often[/i]
So that's all in the past now?
My boy starts questions with 'Sure...' which seems to be a local thing, such as yesterday's critical enquiry 'Sure even if Jesus and God caught their willy's in their zip even they would cry?'
Just wanted to put it out there
I do it quite often. I think because it's a way of easing into a question - "So what do you think?" is less direct than "What do you think?"
Contrarily, it can also add emphasis - "So are you ready to go?" has more oomph to it than "Are you ready to go?"
Australians seem to all use, "Well, look..." as their opening gambit. That alone is just about tolerable, but add in the rising inflection and I find myself reaching for my guns!
Every Yorkshireman I know starts every conversation with "Now then!"
StefMcDef +1
So, going forwards, it's clichéd language for clichéd people.
Anyway, there was a Radio4 program on the subject and their top tip was to simply respond to any sentence starting with so by starting your next sentence with "anyway".
And the issue is what exactly?
Go and sit in the corner and think about what you've just done.
Sorry sir
(poke my tounge out while I think you're not looking)
Fowler's agrees with OP, sort of.
Language is correct through usage.
my pet hate is people that end sentences with ' no? '
It always makes me laugh when people say "yeah...no" in every other sentence!
always?
Do you not know there is a difference between formal and informal speaking and writing?
It's just a filler, innit.