I should have written about this years ago. I first noticed it circa 2005, which coincided with a move to the West Coast. You will have born witness to this if you were a regular NPR listener for the past decade. What I am talking about is the profusion of an answering style that seems to have emanated from the scientific institutions in California. When presented with a question, instead of beginning with the age old transition word, "Well", a person answers with a habitual, "So". To my ear it sounds more dismissive, if not arrogant. It sets up the following statement to exist alone, not as an answer. Perfect for politicians, I might add.
You will hear this in any interview with someone from Google. I think that's when it first stood out to me. I then traced it back to its origins in West Coast research labs. I knew something was going on when for the first time I heard it from someone on the East Coast, and the speaker was from....(guess).....M.I.T. Yes, the cross pollination had begun among research institutions.
Has anyone else noticed this?
(if so, please begin your answer with "Well,")
If KJZZ fixes their archives, you can hear a bounty of "So,"'s here:
http://archive.kjzz.org/news/arizona/archives/200601/hereandnow20060125
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ReplyDeleteTrackback So when did so many academics begin prefacing sentences with 'so' instead of 'well'?
ReplyDeleteNot sure which induces greater linguistic consternation, the rampant increase in the use of 'so' where previously 'well' served so well (sic) or the dreaded upspeak!
https://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20130704143327AAPmMFs
Also see:
ReplyDeletehttp://creativehammer.com/2014/08/17/let-it-so/