By Matt Stone
RECENTLY I’ve been paying more attention to how people express themselves than I have previously. Whilst I am generally interested in what people say, as there are many fascinating/interesting topics people can and do talk about, the fact that there are nearly as many “conversationalists” that are dead-set boring may have affected my attitude[1]. As they say, it’s in the eye of the beholder!
So, what I have noticed is the use of the word “so”, which I had not paid much attention to in the past. So, I wondered whether it is the new “like”, the grammatical use of which, like, I cannot quite fathom.
RECENTLY I’ve been paying more attention to how people express themselves than I have previously. Whilst I am generally interested in what people say, as there are many fascinating/interesting topics people can and do talk about, the fact that there are nearly as many “conversationalists” that are dead-set boring may have affected my attitude[1]. As they say, it’s in the eye of the beholder!
So, what I have noticed is the use of the word “so”, which I had not paid much attention to in the past. So, I wondered whether it is the new “like”, the grammatical use of which, like, I cannot quite fathom.
So I did a little research and found “so” was an old and valued friend. By all accounts it goes back to the 14th century, appearing in some of Chaucer’s works, where it served several uses – an adverb, adjective and a conjunction (of which there are three types, where “so” is typically a co-ordinating conjunction). I admit having to Google the meaning of conjunction. So, “so” derived from the word “swa” in the old English language, meaning “in this way’ or “in such a manner that”.
More recently, it’s used to head a group of words at the beginning of a sentence, as doubtless you have already noticed, that provides introductory information or sets the context as an introductory particle, where it can substitute for words such as consequently and therefore. Is it any wonder how difficult learning English as a second language is, especially for adult migrants! Liane and I both did a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign language) course and some of these terms still bemuse me, like.
So is also often used as a gentle query – “so?” or a less polite putdown – “so what!”.
Having bored you with an English lesson, I think my main observation is the frequent use of "so" to begin sentences, which I believe is a more recent phenomenon. Some scholars and academics believe there is evidence of it being a natural language evolution – which absolutely sinks my “like” theory! Like, who decides these things?
It has been suggested that “so” is often used to begin a sentence because it helps the speaker to avoid giving a straight answer. So, has “so” become a crutch word which enables the speaker to pause, which can be very useful when they are (possibly) formulating a lie? I think this is highly unlikely as I have not heard a certain president use it once!
So, my new theory is it replaces the use of ahh and umm for speakers who are not very confident.
So, have you noticed it, and if so, have I raised your awareness to it? If you are someone who loves to delve further, try reading A Brief History of the Word “So” by Heather N King.
Hopefully, like, I haven’t created a visual earworm. So long!
More recently, it’s used to head a group of words at the beginning of a sentence, as doubtless you have already noticed, that provides introductory information or sets the context as an introductory particle, where it can substitute for words such as consequently and therefore. Is it any wonder how difficult learning English as a second language is, especially for adult migrants! Liane and I both did a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign language) course and some of these terms still bemuse me, like.
So is also often used as a gentle query – “so?” or a less polite putdown – “so what!”.
Having bored you with an English lesson, I think my main observation is the frequent use of "so" to begin sentences, which I believe is a more recent phenomenon. Some scholars and academics believe there is evidence of it being a natural language evolution – which absolutely sinks my “like” theory! Like, who decides these things?
It has been suggested that “so” is often used to begin a sentence because it helps the speaker to avoid giving a straight answer. So, has “so” become a crutch word which enables the speaker to pause, which can be very useful when they are (possibly) formulating a lie? I think this is highly unlikely as I have not heard a certain president use it once!
So, my new theory is it replaces the use of ahh and umm for speakers who are not very confident.
So, have you noticed it, and if so, have I raised your awareness to it? If you are someone who loves to delve further, try reading A Brief History of the Word “So” by Heather N King.
Hopefully, like, I haven’t created a visual earworm. So long!