I’ve noticed, now that we’ve gotten most of our “likes” and “ums” out of our speaking practice, that people are starting to LOVE using the word “so”. I watched a Global Director of Something or Other from Digital River last week give a talk (that he of course will be delivering GLOBALLY) and he must have used the word “so” to start every other sentence. Sorry, have to stop for a gratuitous Sound of Music moment.
Andrew Chomik, a Canadian communications professional, wrote about the Top 10 Most Overused Words on Askmen.com recently. He failed to pick up the word “so” as overused and actually used it himself to begin a sentence in the article.
Why does this bug me? Anytime you use a word like “so” to begin your sentence, your sentence loses it’s impact. I’m not a grammarian, but when you try to connect thoughts or introduce new thoughts, using any word before the actual thought is tiresome. I think we’ve gotten rid of the word “like” in many ways thanks to people not wanting to look like Paris Hilton – although she uses the word “so” more accurately in her catch phrase “so hot” than the Digital River guy did.
Start your thought and phrase on its own, standing tall and proud, whether you’re speaking or writing or just commenting on a forum. No need to say so. (And don’t even get me started on “a little bit..”)