"So" what's it all about?

Lilyflower - love that riposte!

"Joking me" is another one. i.e. people say "you must be joking me" when they actually mean to say "you must be kidding".

Not sure if it is, but it sounds like incorrect grammar.

I'm a pedant too.
I can't stand all this 'So.....' .
Perhaps it is buying time for whoever utters it whilst they think of what to say in the rest of the sentence.
But 'so' does actually have a meaning, so it's not usually correct usage.

I dislike tv chefs/cooks who, when asked by a presenter what they plan to cook, use the word WE when there is obviously no-one else helping them.
'WE'RE going to fry OFF? some onions then we're gonna PAN fry (is there any other way?) the steak....blah blah.

My brother always ends a phone call with "see you later". He lives in Australia, I live in UK!

I dislike all those previously mentioned irritants and add 'absolutely' to that list. Why not answer a simple 'yes', or 'I agree'?

Or 'do you understand what i'm saying'!!! lillyflower

The problem with 'So — ' at the start of a sentence is that 'so' has a meaning — it isn't just a thought-space filler like 'Well'. 'So' means as a consequence of what you are talking about. It makes no sense at the start of an interview. Even experienced broadcasters fall into the trap. I wonder why there isn't someone at the BBC etc., paid to alert them to this type of habit.

'If that makes sense?' is another repeated end to any statement which I find irritating. The speaker must have no confidence in their communication ability at all.

This is quite amusing, language changes like fashion some things lasting longer than others. Now what gets to me are the following:

you know (short form)
you know what I mean (of course I do!)
so (be it)
basically (fundamental)
fantastic (no it's not)
see you later (NO you will not, and how is that possible when we are speaking on the phone) grrrr.

But... is the use of 'so' worse than the rising inflection at the end of a sentence? Thank goodness that habit seems to be dying a death, used to drive me round the bend.

Grrr
So, basically........
Well, so.......
So, well.......

I posted about the same thing a while back. Drives me crackers. Predominantly used by the young. Watching interviews on news channels it's amazing how many interviewees start every sentence with it. Grr.

What about "fantastic"? I count the number of times certain presenters use it when they are not talking about a fantasy. What does "cool" mean? "I'm good" seems to be used instead of "well" now. I think I'm on the wrong planet!

I think it’s another American thing that has been adopted.
Any repetitive words can be irritating, for me it’s ‘like’ every few words, or people finishing with ‘yea? In order to make you agree.

I hate it when people say ‘my bad’. Why?

In conversation, it's one of those tricks to give you a second longer to think about what you're going to say.

What gets my goat is when people say blindingly simple things but finish with a rhetorical: 'Do you know what I mean?' as if you are an idiot.

I am always tempted to say a donkey would understand that.

Check out the opening line of the late Seamus Heaney's translation of BEOWULF - starts with 'So...'

It’s the constant umming and erring that drives me insane. Apparently clever people on the radio do it all the time. Grrr

He turned round and said....... People never seem to be facing each other before they start to talk!

Wow! Didn't I open a can of worms by referring to hubby!
Call him far worse than that at times believe me but can't refer to him as DH - as per GN abbreviations!
Could mean Dear, Darling, Dreadful???
D could stand for any or worse!
To be honest I find the GN abbreviations tricky - I read a post the other day that referred to GF. I wondered what Grandfather was up to until I twigged it was Girlfriend!
Please don't take me too seriously folks! I really feel that Sassanach was being light hearted when she started this!

So, does it really annoy you then? ?
In Germany it seems to be said a lot and always has been I think, and it only means the same as well.
I don’t say hubby at all or kiddies but can’t say it bothers me if others do, innit?

AS Dh is deaf/doesn't listen to me I tend to start whatever I am going to say with an introduction which could be 'so' or 'well then' it juts gets his attention much nicer than shouting 'Oi cloth ears at him'.

Strange thing, language. A hundred years ago the word 'Hun' had a totally different meaning... I'm guessing the current usage is American in origin. Short for Honey? Yuk!

Thought GN was somewhere we could discuss anything OldMeg large or small.
I really dislike the way the word 'like' is inserted into every sentence and often every other word grrrrr