Starting a sentence with 'so'

[T5XARV]

I'm starting to notice this everywhere I go.
Ask a question in a shop and the response often resembles - 'So, this one is the top of the range with features such as.....'
Even creeping into TV interviews.....it seems to be slowly replacing 'well', 'erm' or 'look'
Is it just me ?

[SeeFive]

The one that gets my goat is people that start a sentence wth "Listen...".

Of course I am going to listen you tt.

[Moominho]

I do the 'so' thing. I hate myself for it. I have a weird way of speaking though, I always use certain words too much, and when I realise, and try to replace them, they magically get replaced by a different word that a few months down the line I'll realise I'm saying too much.

[Corpulent Tosser]

T5XARV said:

I'm starting to notice this everywhere I go.

So, is this something that really bothers you ?

[silverous]

So, I've noticed it is all over internet forums also. Doesn't sit comfortably but I don't lose any sleep over it.

[Benni]

Even ads do it, see :

[Europa1]

I blame Friends (the TV show, not the people I socialise with).

[PorkInsider]

The thing that really grates for me is starting the sentence with "so" and then straight into the rest of it, without the pause after the "so".

Then it sounds like we're missing the previous sentence. I sometimes imagine what that previous sentence might have been.

Example: "so I bought a new TV today".

Perhaps we missed "A gang of steroid fuelled squirrels got into my house and ate all my AV equipment" that came before the "so" sentence.

Makes it a little more bearable to listen to...

[Vizsla]

SeeFive said:

The one that gets my goat is people that start a sentence wth "Listen...".

Of course I am going to listen you tt.

Or "Look,..." (a favourite of the one-eyed Scottish idiot ex-PM, to help in avoiding a difficult question). Sets a nasty, condescending tone to the reply from the very first word.

[sparkythecat]

If an interlocutor pauses after so, I'm inclined to interject with " A needle pulling thread"

[5potTurbo]

Benni said:

Even ads do it, see :

I don't find "so" condescending, nor had I noticed its increased use.
"Basically", on the other hand, always seems condescending to me, in that you're too thick to understand the details, so it's been diluted for you.

[Disastrous]

Vizsla said:

SeeFive said:

The one that gets my goat is people that start a sentence wth "Listen...".

Of course I am going to listen you tt.

Or "Look,..." (a favourite of the one-eyed Scottish idiot ex-PM, to help in avoiding a difficult question). Sets a nasty, condescending tone to the reply from the very first word.

I get that it's annoying but how is it nasty/condescending?

I see it as something you might use sparingly to very strongly object or disagree with someone - "Look, I've explained already how it happened. Can we now move on?"

Nobody says it in a different context do they like say, "Look, I'm just off out for a sandwich. Anyone want anything brought back?"?

[T5XARV]

Look = pay attention.

[HTP99]

A woman at work always uses the phrase "I'm not being funny, but...." for the start of the majority of her sentences.

[Disastrous]

T5XARV said:

Look = pay attention.

Yes, that's a good way of putting it.

[mollytherocker]

The worst is 'To be honest.....'

What, do you usually lie?

[drivin_me_nuts]

Look, so, to be honest...

Politician's wet dream starter to a Paxman toughie.

[T5XARV]

At the end of the day.....

[arch stant0n]

I dream of the brevity of "So..."

"Let me just put this out there..."

[chris7676]

I believe it is correct, even if abused.
However 'Therefore' looks and sounds much more splendid, although it clearly relies on something else being stated before