<p>“So can any one help me…”</p>
<p>“So I got into school X…”</p>
<p>“So last night I talked with my parents…”</p>
<p>“So there’s this kid at my school…”</p>
<p>“So I finally got my essays done…”</p>
<p>The word “SO” isn’t a standard opening for a spoken sentence nor for a written one. I hope pepetrators of this faux pas don’t do it in their essays…</p>
<p>“So I wonder what about my essay they didn’t like?”</p>
<p>So I don’t get why it bothers you so much.</p>
<p>Good question pachisi: Maybe I’m getting grumpy w/old age? Still – it’s a pet peeve.</p>
<p>So doesn’t bother me nearly as much as it’s/its being mixed up, 's used to show plurality, and I/myself used when ME would be correct (YES! Sometimes ME is the correct word to use!). In fact, I kind of like so.</p>
<p>I kind of like, don’t like, ya know, like way everybody says like in the middle of a sentence.</p>
<p>This isn’t a spoke word pet peeve, but I can’t stand the way everyone wants to put an apostrophe where it does not belong, i.e. confusing plural and possessive:</p>
<pre><code> Ex: plural = holidays
possessive = holiday’s
</code></pre>
<p>I’m guilty of that in my posting. I do it because I envision myself pulling up a chair, leaning into a group of friends and saying “So, . . .” to begin a conversation. I don’t speak it or write it in formal correspondence.</p>
<p>The use of “So” to begin a story is not new. Here are the first couple of lines of Beowulf, originally written in Old English and translated into modern English by Seamus Heaney:</p>
<p>“So. The Spear-Danes in days gone by
and the kings who ruled them had courage and greatness.
We have heard of those princes’ heroic campaigns.”</p>
<p>So? Whatever, dude…chill out some…</p>