The case for and against 'so' as a sentence starter

The tiny English word so has numerous uses. Merriam-Webster gives it separate entries as adverb, conjunction, adjective and pronoun.

Most of the time, little so goes about its business unnoticed, but one of its functions has been provoking heated discussion on the Web: the use of so as “a discourse marker.”

The term “discourse marker” was coined in the 1960s to describe “a word or phrase whose function is to organize discourse into segments and situate a clause, sentence, etc., within a larger context.”

Here are some words and phrases commonly used as discourse markers in speech:

well
you know
like
now
I think
you see
oh
I mean
OK
actually

These are words we all interject into speech for reasons that have nothing to do with grammar. For example:

Well, I was a little worried.

Now, a clever man would put the poison into his own goblet.

You know, not everyone shares your opinion on that.

OK, let’s take a vote.

I think I’ll go now.

These markers serve no grammatical function, but they do advance discourse in various ways.

As a discourse marker at the beginning of a sentence, so may do any of the following:

initiate discourse

So, how was the interview?

mark a shift in topic or activity

So, what should we do now?

begin an explanation

So, disconnect the power cord and remove the back panel.

preface the response to any question

Interviewer: What is the focus of your research?

Interview subject: So, I study samples of creek water to track pollution.

avoid giving a direct answer

Interviewer: Why did you lay off so many workers?

Interview subject: So, our sales have been stagnant for some time.

The use of so as a sentence-starter has provoked numerous discussions on the Web.

Business consultant Hunter Thurman gives three reasons for avoiding the practice of beginning a sentence with so:

1. “So” insults your audience.
2. “So” undermines your credibility.
3. “So” demonstrates that you’re not 100 percent comfortable with what you’re saying.

PR consultant Cherry Chapell, on the other hand, sees this use of so as “a good way of giving yourself time to think.”

Linguistics professor Penelope Gardner-Chloros suggests that a speaker who starts an answer with so “is saying what he wants to say, like a politician—but trying to make it sound like it’s an answer to the question.”

Like many linguistic targets of criticism, so as a sentence starter draws extreme reactions. I’ve seen comments that question the intelligence of speakers who begin sentences with so and accuse them of defiling the language.

Download this free white paper to discover 10 ways to improve your writing today.

I’ve seen other comments that cite the fact that Seamus Heaney translated the opening “Hwaet” of Beowulf as “So!” as proof that so must be all right in any context.

The reality is that sometimes so is an appropriate sentence starter, and sometimes it is an irritant.

When a speaker habitually begins sentences with so, listeners may react in one of two ways. Some filter out the so and concentrate on content. Others, however, are distracted by it and may tune out the content as they count the times they hear so.

When beginning a sentence with so becomes a verbal tic, it has lost its usefulness as a discourse marker.

A version of this article first appeared on DailyWritingTips.

(Image via)


from Ragan.com http://ift.tt/1PhQKBp via video services
from Tumblr http://ift.tt/1Q2GNJr