So

[kendo]

I didn't think swearing was banned, but I think asterisks may be.

S-o-o-o-o?

 

[Stunsworth]

Look, it’s not the only annoying way to begin a sentence.

 

[Mullardman]

So, you are saying that you started a thread about this a couple of years back?

So, yes.

 

[davidjt]

Also pretty dumb: "Can I get.......?" instead of "May I have.....,please?" Now accepted as a way of ordering a coffee, burger, sandwich etc. Why?

And as for "He, she or it could of, should of, would of......" - worthy of Molesworth at skule.

 

[zippy]

So.. late in picking up on this.

So.. I believe I started a thread about this a couple of years back..

So - I remember that thread. Seems you and I are way ahead of the pack on this one.

If you really want to draw peoples attention, start your sentence with the word 'soap' and see how they react...

Soap.. maybe in 2 years time everyone will be doing it..

 

[Mike Reed]

Look, it’s not the only annoying way to begin a sentence.

Maybe not, but it's not standard (i.e. correct) English, and when silly, erroneous grammatical usage proliferates, it is seen to be correct, and that's the annoying part.

 

[Nic Robinson]

I still can't get past "Enjoy!"

 

[stephen bennett]

Stephen

 

[Still]

imo the quality of that record is definitely so so.

I still can't get past "Enjoy!"

Endjoy!

 

[Sue Pertwee-Tyr]

This increasing misuse of the conjunction 'so' (but can be an adverb) annoys me intensely. Supposedly educated people on TV (as mentioned here) use it.

A conjunction JOINS phrases or sentences, so CANNOT LINGUISTICALLY START A SENTENCE. The most common usage I've noticed is in answer to a question, as though the answer logically ensues from it.

While I agree with your general point, I don't agree that you can't start a sentence with a conjunction. And in fact, many distinguished writers do so. But when they do, it is largely a deliberate, literary device. So, a form of emphasis, if you will.

 

[Nic Robinson]

Endjoy!

 

[Nick_G]

Stephen

 

[Mike Reed]

While I agree with your general point, I don't agree that you can't start a sentence with a conjunction.

Sue, think about it; a conjunction, by definition, joins clauses or sentences. How can you have a 'new' sentence beginning with a conjunction when there's nothing to join it to ? 'And', 'but' and 'so', for example, actually imply that something precedes. Literary licence is another matter, but doesn't change the rules of English.

 

[Nick_G]

Well you can have verbal diarrhoea, so why not verbal conjunctivitis?

 

[Derek Wright]

a needle pulling thread

 

[cctaylor]

If anyone watches Graham Norton, when guests are about to start their tale in Big Red Chair the biggest majority start with "So ....". It has been bugging me for a while. It probably is a kind thinking pause, but still annoying.

 

[Mike Reed]

, so why not verbal conjunctivitis

I had a pupil named Iris who came from Eye in Cambridgeshire and she talked a lot. Try to be cornea than that !

 

[gintonic]

so, language is evolving, who'd have guessed it

 

[Mike Reed]

so, language is evolving, who'd have guessed it

A familiar cry about linguistic evolution, which is true of many/most languages. However, it's the vocabulary which evolves to suit current environments. It's rarely the grammatical structure which changes and even then, it's usually by generational disuse.

Dictionaries are updated by additions (and occasionally deletions) on a frequent basis, but textbooks are not, except in accessibility to learning.

 

[gintonic]

Dictionaries are updated by additions (and occasionally deletions) on a frequent basis, but textbooks are not, except in accessibility to learning.

there are always exceptions I can think of textbooks in my academic area that are updated annually, this includes one I am directly involved as an author and another as editor. My boss and were talking about the regular updates he has to make to the text book he authored, late last week.