Wikipedians starting responses with "So..." Options Rating

[thekohser]

I want this thread to be a video and audio clearinghouse of any instances of Wikipedians beginning statements or responses to questions with the word "So...". It annoys me.

Sue Gardner, on the Bookshelf Project

Jimmy Wales, on Hayak


Jimmy Wales, on Wikia as "rest of library"

[Lar]

So... what else annoys you? B`

[Zoloft]

"So I herd you liek Mudkipz..."

[Kevin]

So, nothing good on telly tonight in Kohsville?

[Somey]

I used to have a pet peeve about people who would say, "that's so {whatever}" without a qualifying complementary clause. IOW, I'd be fine with "that's so funny I forgot to laugh," but it really bugged me when people would only say, "that's so funny." So funny... why? It's a qualifier, people!

Thankfully, these days I've got a new pet peeve, which I'd better not mention because then everybody will start doing it just to spite me. But it's something I keep hearing in movie and TV dialogue, and it's one of the main reasons why I'm going to cancel my DirecTV account pretty soon and not renew it, like, ever. Until they stop doing it, anyway.

On Wikipedia they use templates to communicate with each other, so what do you expect, right? Standardization of common forms of expression (as opposed to specialized jargon, etc.) is an efficiency measure when your organization gets too large for its own good, but it's also something cults do. In WP's case I wouldn't read too much into it, but it's definitely annoying if you're exposed to it excessively.

[EricBarbour]

IOW, I'd be fine with "that's so funny I forgot to laugh," but it really bugged me when people would only say, "that's so funny." So funny... why? It's a qualifier, people!

Fuck that ! Bring on the mudkips!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Lar]

Thankfully, these days I've got a new pet peeve, which I'd better not mention because then everybody will start doing it just to spite me.

So...(mey)

Tell me what it is! Tell me what it is! Tell me what it is!

I promise not to do it. EVER! And I'm sure I speak for ALL of us on that. Not a troll in the bunch, I guar-un-tee it!

[thekohser]

Thankfully, these days I've got a new pet peeve, which I'd better not mention because then everybody will start doing it just to spite me.

So...(mey)

Tell me what it is! Tell me what it is! Tell me what it is!

I promise not to do it. EVER! And I'm sure I speak for ALL of us on that. Not a troll in the bunch, I guar-un-tee it!

I'll bet it's one of the following:

"That's besides the point..."

"For all intensive purposes..."

"Hey, can I go with?"

[Moulton]

My favorite pet peeve is when some bureaucracy violates Moulton's Law.

[Jon Awbrey]

So many bees,
So little honey.

Jon

[victim of censorship]

So many bees,
So little honey.

Jon

...so many stingers.

[thekohser]

"So, um, what I'm going to talk about today..."

[thekohser]

A textbook case from Gina Bianchini.

Five responses... three begin with "So..."

Sixty percent.

This post has been edited by thekohser: Mon 19th April 2010, 12:14am

[thekohser]

Okay, I think we have enough data points to begin "Hypothesis Time"!

My hypothesis is that these Web 2.0, crowdsourcing gurus spent so much of the period 1996 to 2003 explaining Internet technology to people (friends, spouses, hottest chick at the technology mixer, potential investors, etc.) who really didn't understand how websites, HTML, and Java worked, they developed this nasty habit of launching every explanation with "So...". In much the same way your small child might ask, "Why do we have both paper money and coin money?", you might begin a response "down to her level" with, "So, imagine you wanted to buy a bicycle that cost 75 dollars..."

The "So..." is an equalizer. A signal to the listener that the speaker realizes you are dumber than they are about a subject, but they're going to try to explain things to you in a friendly, layman's sort of way. The "So..." prepares the listener to try to pay attention, because a folksy assessment is about to come their way, and they just might stand a chance of understanding it.

This post has been edited by thekohser: Mon 19th April 2010, 2:33pm

[thekohser]

"Great, thank you. So, democracy..."

09:53

[Subtle Bee]

The "So..." is an equalizer. A signal to the listener that the speaker realizes you are dumber than they are about a subject, but they're going to try to explain things to you in a friendly, layman's sort of way. The "So..." prepares the listener to try to pay attention, because a folksy assessment is about to come their way, and they just might stand a chance of understanding it.

So what are you saying?

I think that "so" is a signpost for an imminent synthesis, and usually precedes "...what you're/I'm saying is..." or "...in other words...". If you insert "so" into your own train of thought, it means you're about to sum up, or explain another way. If you interject it into another's, it signifies you're about to say what they just said in your own words. or voice the conclusion they were reaching. In practice though, it's usually just a way to interrupt so you can say what you want to say.

See what I did there?

[gomi]

"That's besides the point..."

"For all intensive purposes..."

"Hey, can I go with?"

"That's a mute point."

"These numbers don't jive".

[Milton Roe]

Okay, I think we have enough data points to begin "Hypothesis Time"!

My hypothesis is that these Web 2.0, crowdsourcing gurus spent so much of the period 1996 to 2003 explaining Internet technology to people (friends, spouses, hottest chick at the technology mixer, potential investors, etc.) who really didn't understand how websites, HTML, and Java worked, they developed this nasty habit of launching every explanation with "So...". In much the same way your small child might ask, "Why do we have both paper money and coin money?", you might begin a response "down to her level" with, "So, imagine you wanted to buy a bicycle that cost 75 dollars..."

The "So..." is an equalizer. A signal to the listener that the speaker realizes you are dumber than they are about a subject, but they're going to try to explain things to you in a friendly, layman's sort of way. The "So..." prepares the listener to try to pay attention, because a folksy assessment is about to come their way, and they just might stand a chance of understanding it.

AND, it means the person hasn't been trained as a trial lawyer. Who tend to say "Now...." when they're pausing stupidly between phrases. And everybody else just says "ahhhhh...."

[CharlotteWebb]

I think it's more an attention foot-hold than anything. People who begin a (verbal) conversation with no warning eventually will tire of having to stop mid-sentence and repeat themselves every time.

Alice: "I heard you li—"
Bob (blurting loudly): "WHAT?" *

So they tend to avoid this by prefacing such a sentence with "Hey, Bob..." but to avoid sounding too stern/pedantic when Bob is the only one present, it's usually just "Hey..." or "[throat-clearing sound]" or indeed "So..." (then pause up to 2–7 seconds awaiting eye-contact).

Then the same conditioned behavior carries over to other forms of communication which are non-personal, non-interactive, and/or non-ambiguous.




* I know from experience this is bloody-fuck annoying.

[Emperor]

"Unsustainable"

It sounded cool for about the first five minutes. Now everyone's using it.

Regarding So..., it just shows informality and lack of respect. The speaker can't be bothered to fully wake up and use complete sentences. It's also a good way to interrupt someone if you get tired of waiting for them to stop talking. An exception would be if you're trying to active listen and just summarizing "so... what you're saying is"...