So...

This is not really a gripe, well maybe a little but probably more of a curiosity but what is it with everyone on TV, when asked a question, starting each sentence with "So..."?

I find myself starting to do it in my own speech, although I am trying to catch myself  but the final straw just now was noticing that I had started my last post with So...So, what is it all about?

I know that there are quite a few linguists here on the board (please don't judge me!) I'd be really interested to know your thoughts.

I've never noticed this.  Will need to listen more carefully.

I've never noticed this.  Will need to listen more carefully.

I notice it mainly on the news programmes when guests are being interviewed. 

Hah!  That's a pet peeve of my UKC husband.  Several times recently he's gotten irritated with all the people that use, "so" to begin a sentence.  I had never thought much about it, because I'm pretty guilty of it myself.   

Of course now that it's been brought to my attention it irritates me too! 

I figure it's really not that different than vocalized fillers - "um", "well", etc., except the word "so" is more like a vocalized starting block maybe?  It gives the speaker time to get thoughts together to begin a sentence.....

.... or maybe it's just, like...you know.... a lazy, irritating habit.   

Haha. Great points Becca. 

Apparently Mark Zuckerburg is a prime offender. I found an article about "so" and the author noted that he started 40% of his answers with "so".

I found this of interest as I was reading about high context and low context languages/cultures just the other day. One of the things mentioned was the Gallic shrug. It means nothing....but says everything.

French Businessman: The permit will be ready by then, no?
Civil Servant: *Gallic shrug*

Probably every language to some degree has these things, but I find a lot of the English ones fascinating. "Right!" is a good one.

PTA chairperson: Right! Let's work on booth assignments. Who'll do the ring toss?

It connotes authority. The lowly person in the meeting can't say, "Right! Let's take a break and pick up on the 4th quarter figures". 

Even "like"....it is not just laziness.

Person on bus to friend: I asked him when he would be finished, and he was like, "I'll get it done."

The person is indicating that they are paraphrasing, and combined with the snottiness of the response, it builds a clearer picture.

"So" is interesting, though. What is it saying?

In one of the articles I found on the rise of "so", the author felt like it was patronising. To him it established a sort of baseline. By saying "so", you are saying something like, "I am knowledgeable of the issue, am smart enough to establish all that has been said as fact, and am now going to enlighten you further."

But there is actually, according to some who support feminism, a bit of darkness behind it all. It seems that these little things only become "irritating" when they are done by females. Or that they become irritating because they are adopted by females.

The aforementioned "like" for instance. Or the uplift at the end of a sentence. And lately vocal fry. There is an interesting Youtube video showing that men have been doing vocal fry for a long time....and nobody has noticed. But along comes Scarlet Johansson/the Kardashians, and it becomes an irritant.....and according to the self-appointed Linkedin employment gurus, a career killer. 

http://forward.com/sisterhood/318118/vocal-fry-is-your-problem-naomi-wolf-not-womens-problem/

Apparently Mark Zuckerburg is a prime offender. I found an article about "so" and the author noted that he started 40% of his answers with "so".

I found this of interest as I was reading about high context and low context languages/cultures just the other day. One of the things mentioned was the Gallic shrug. It means nothing....but says everything.

French Businessman: The permit will be ready by then, no?
Civil Servant: *Gallic shrug*

Probably every language to some degree has these things, but I find a lot of the English ones fascinating. "Right!" is a good one.

PTA chairperson: Right! Let's work on booth assignments. Who'll do the ring toss?

It connotes authority. The lowly person in the meeting can't say, "Right! Let's take a break and pick up on the 4th quarter figures". 

Even "like"....it is not just laziness.

Person on bus to friend: I asked him when he would be finished, and he was like, "I'll get it done."

The person is indicating that they are paraphrasing, and combined with the snottiness of the response, it builds a clearer picture.

"So" is interesting, though. What is it saying?

In one of the articles I found on the rise of "so", the author felt like it was patronising. To him it established a sort of baseline. By saying "so", you are saying something like, "I am knowledgeable of the issue, am smart enough to establish all that has been said as fact, and am now going to enlighten you further."

But there is actually, according to some who support feminism, a bit of darkness behind it all. It seems that these little things only become "irritating" when they are done by females. Or that they become irritating because they are adopted by females.

The aforementioned "like" for instance. Or the uplift at the end of a sentence. And lately vocal fry. There is an interesting Youtube video showing that men have been doing vocal fry for a long time....and nobody has noticed. But along comes Scarlet Johansson/the Kardashians, and it becomes an irritant.....and according to the self-appointed Linkedin employment gurus, a career killer. 

http://forward.com/sisterhood/318118/vocal-fry-is-your-problem-naomi-wolf-not-womens-problem/

Great post SOS.   

Wow, vocal fry. I just looked at a few videos.  I can't stand it!  I didn't even know it was a thing! (Where have I been!) I thought it was just me being way too sensitive again! 

Vocal Fry is causing much controversy in the podcasting world and on NPR.  Apparently, all the women get hundreds of letters of complaint every time they open their mouths, and the men can talk however they like without problems. 


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There's a great Podcast called "Stuff You Should Know " with an episode explaining vocal fry and the feminist issues it raises.

By the way Larrabee, it's not PC to say you don't like it!  Criticising vocal fry is suppressing young women who have always been leaders in vocal inflections. 


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By the way Larrabee, it's not PC to say you don't like it!

It's OK, I can live with that! 

None of these things bother me......not worth getting excited about. I have wondered at times where all the different little language things come from......but....it would take effort to find out and I am really lazy. My favourite here in the UK is "To be perfectly honest blah blah blah blah" My wife had never noticed it since it was just a background noise in a way that she had heard all her life. Does that saying mean that normally you are a dishonest bastard, and just now you are telling the truth? My wife is still making little fixes to the house we bought last summer. She keeps asking me what I think of curtains, paint etc......and I can only keep pointing out that after a week or so I won't even see them anymore once I get used to them being there.

Vocal Fry is causing much controversy in the podcasting world and on NPR. 

It's a rabbit hole...

A while back I listened to one about the "open" office plan. It's very sinister...like Tati's Play Time sort of. 

Wow, vocal fry. I just looked at a few videos.  I can't stand it!  I didn't even know it was a thing! (Where have I been!) I thought it was just me being way too sensitive again! 

OMG, I absolutely HATE vocal fry!   Like you, I didn't know it had a name, or was 'a thing', but I hated it because it kind of makes the speaker sound a bit bored, so it just seemed like pure rudeness to me.   One of the videos I watched on YouTube on this topic said that  the speakers sound 'disengaged and world-weary'... What do these twenty-somethings have to be world-weary about?!  Talk to me when you're 52, honey! 

My favourite here in the UK is "To be perfectly honest blah blah blah blah"

'To be honest' doesn't bother me half as much as 'to be fair', because most of the time whatever follows 'to be fair', has nothing whatsoever to do with fairness.

Also related to this topic, it does bug me when people start a sentence with 'OK...' or 'Listen...' -- it's probably the same as starting a sentence with 'So...', as per the OP's complaint.

OMG, I absolutely HATE vocal fry!   Like you, I didn't know it had a name, or was 'a thing', but I hated it because it kind of makes the speaker sound a bit bored, so it just seemed like pure rudeness to me. 

I remember the first time I heard a really pronounced example of what I now (thanks only to SOS!) know to be vocal fry.

I actually presumed that there was something wrong with her, I didn't know what, maybe vocal polyps or something like that?  I had no idea it was self induced. 

  One of the videos I watched on YouTube on this topic said that  the speakers sound disengaged and world-weary, and what do these twenty-somethings have to be world-weary about?!  Talk to me when you're 52, honey! 

Priceless!