# What is the origin of the irritating habit of starting every reply with So,....? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 16, 2021, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-the-irritating-habit-of-starting-every-reply-with-so/950775 "2021-09-16T19:47:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2021, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-the-irritating-habit-of-starting-every-reply-with-so/950775/42 "2021-09-19T01:27:14Z")
For the record, many Beach Boy songs start with the word “Well”. ---
**Author:** ![omenran](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omenran/32/3318_2.png) [@omenran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omenran)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2021, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-the-irritating-habit-of-starting-every-reply-with-so/950775/43 "2021-09-19T01:29:16Z")
I’m slowly catching up on that podcast and I listened to that a couple weeks and I was going to post a link to it myself if no one else had. Other assorted verbal tics and habits also get discussed by that podcast. It seems to have re-branded itself though as Spectacular Venacular, and on my feed at least, the episodes have a different icon than the Lexicon Valley one. (Looks like the host[s] changed again and maybe are taking the podcast in a new new direction) ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2021, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-the-irritating-habit-of-starting-every-reply-with-so/950775/44 "2021-09-19T02:19:12Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > It’s not limited to English - I don’t know about other languages, but starting a sentence with “so” (“az”) is very common in Hebrew as well. Just a WAG: it came from Yiddish, originally, which may also be how it became so common in American English. There’s also “alora” is Italian. When teaching Italians (as in from Italy, not of Italian heritage), I heard the word “alora” so often I asked what it meant. Turns out it’s the same sort of placeholder as so or well. With so, in English, some people don’t use it like that. They just seem to see it as a signifier that a sentence is starting. It seems to come up on reality shows more than anything else. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2021, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-the-irritating-habit-of-starting-every-reply-with-so/950775/45 "2021-09-19T02:49:22Z")
> [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](#): > > Of course I did wave my hands around a lot, which was hilarious when seen of fast forward… In my family, rather than interrupting each other, we would wave our cutlery/silverware at each other as an indication that we had something to add to the conversation. Worked very well until I went out into the wide world. One of my friends walked up behind me at a party and borrowed the knife from my hand. I didn’t even notice at the time, but he later explained that the person I was waiting to talk to had developed a jumpy wide-eyed look… The ellipsis above indicated the elision of the unnecessary explanation 🙂 (Now, a few days ago I complained in some other thread about news reporters starting every paragraph with ‘now’, particularly when it creates a contradiction of time or date.) ---
**Author:** ![phs3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phs3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phs3)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2021, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-the-irritating-habit-of-starting-every-reply-with-so/950775/46 "2021-09-19T03:25:06Z")
> **[r/podcasts - What's going on with Lexicon Valley and Spectacular Vernacular?](https://www.reddit.com/r/podcasts/comments/ovjwrm/whats_going_on_with_lexicon_valley_and/)** > > 4 votes and 9 comments so far on Reddit I hadn’t noticed, since I’m behind! ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2021, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-the-irritating-habit-of-starting-every-reply-with-so/950775/47 "2021-09-19T11:53:58Z")
“You are peeved by this mannerism. So, what?” This usage of so has been around as long as I can remember. When you think about it, it doesn’t make much sense that it means “Who cares?” ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2021, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-the-irritating-habit-of-starting-every-reply-with-so/950775/48 "2021-09-19T12:18:25Z")
> [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](#): > > One part was taking videos of each of us giving a short lecture - absolute everyone in the class was shocked that they had some sort of mannerism, most frequently “um” before sentences. My high school speech teacher called them “vocal pauses” and dinged us when we used them. I think that would be the true non-word like um, uh, ah, err that’s often used for buying time to think. Of course it’s also entirely possible that the person didn’t practice it enough. I don’t know if “vocal pause” would apply to actual words like well, so, and others. Mrs. L’s is “OK so…” I have a nephew who abuses “know what I mean?” at the end of sentences. Everybody has a thing, I suppose. One that I never heard till moving to Texas was the misuse of “whenever.” Whenever I renew my driver’s license, I get up early. Repeated behaviors, yes, whenever. Whenever I got my first driver’s license, I got up early. No. That only happened once, say “When I got…” I hear this from people who are native English speakers, some with master’s degrees. ---
**Author:** ![phs3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phs3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phs3)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2021, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-the-irritating-habit-of-starting-every-reply-with-so/950775/49 "2021-09-19T13:13:50Z")
_Au contraire_, makes perfect sense to me: so == therefore in this context: “And therefore…what?” as in, “What’s your point? Why do I care?” ---
**Author:** ![phs3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phs3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phs3)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2021, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-the-irritating-habit-of-starting-every-reply-with-so/950775/50 "2021-09-19T13:17:14Z")
Yep, “hesitation form” in linguistics. All languages seem to have them; they can vary by culture–different Spanish-speaking countries have different ones, I’m told (but different Spanish-speaking countries have a surprising number of differences–try asking for a drinking straw: [11 Spanish Words for DRINKING STRAW: Infographic](https://www.speakinglatino.com/spanish-language-words-for-drinking-straw/) ). My favorite is Mandarin Chinese, where “nee-ga” is a common hesitation form ([https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-common-Chinese-word-that-sounds-like-nigga-to-American-ears](https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-common-Chinese-word-that-sounds-like-nigga-to-American-ears)). Gotta be careful cross-languages/cultures! ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2021, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-the-irritating-habit-of-starting-every-reply-with-so/950775/51 "2021-09-19T13:33:30Z")
> [@phs3](#): > > My favorite is Mandarin Chinese, where “nee-ga” is a common hesitation form ([What is the common Chinese word that sounds like ‘nigga’ (to American ears)? - Quora](https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-common-Chinese-word-that-sounds-like-nigga-to-American-ears)). Gotta be careful cross-languages/cultures! I once had a roommate from Beijing. When he called home I heard him use that term a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2021, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-the-irritating-habit-of-starting-every-reply-with-so/950775/52 "2021-09-19T16:49:12Z")
I don’t think “so” is necessarily a hesitation. It’s more of a general-purpose segue. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2021, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-the-irritating-habit-of-starting-every-reply-with-so/950775/53 "2021-09-19T17:00:46Z")
I don’t know, but what about, ‘Okay, so…’? I kinda love to hear that! Especially if it’s your nerdy friend that’s into physics, or whatever. And you ask them some pertinent question you’ve been pondering about stars etc. When they open with, ‘Okay, so…’, you know you’re about to get a boatload of nerdy goodness, carefully crafted for your ears and level of understanding, in like ten minutes! And it’s gonna be delightful! ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2021, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-the-irritating-habit-of-starting-every-reply-with-so/950775/54 "2021-09-21T19:00:30Z")
phs3, My bad. True dat. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-the-irritating-habit-of-starting-every-reply-with-so/950775.md?page=2)