A friend of mine is trying to sublet his apartment. He heard from a fellow named Shawn, who may be looking to sublet. He asked Shawn to send him a phone number to discuss the apartment. Shawn began his reply,
Hi,
So, I am actually in Sweden visiting my girlfriend until this Sunday. …
I instructed my friend not to rent to this worm.
Why? To review:
(So, I realize the sentence-starting "so" is an out-of-control linguistic staph infection. Is there nothing we can do to prevent its senseless spread?)
It’s phatic speech, something we all do/need in social situations. Why? Geez, it’s been way too long since Dr. Caton’s Linguistics 110.
Anyone? Enlighten me, remind me?
It ALWAYS has some kind of purpose, and usually a bullshit purpose.
In this case, the person who starts with “so” establishes him- herself as testifying as an expert.
If you ask me, on account of I’m a writer, whether it’s okay to split an infinitive and I say, “Yes, it’s fine, and only an old schoolmarm would say different,” I expose myself as having ventured an opinion. Which I have done.
If, on the other hand, I answer the same question beginning with “so”–“So, there’s disagreement among grammarians, some of whom say … and others say …”–well now I’m posing as a kind of clinician, which keeps me on a linguistic pedestal of my own installation.
Likely, because I want me up here and you down there.
Dr. Caton, how did I do?