So is an English word that, apart from its other uses, has become increasingly popular in recent years as a coordinating conjunctive opening word in a sentence. This device is particularly used when answering questions although the questioner may also use the device. So may also be used to end sentences. When ending a sentence, it may be:
The first known written use of so as a sentence opener is in several lines of Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde, published in the mid-1380s, for example:[2][3]
So graunte hem sone out of this world to pace (So grant him soon out of this world to pass);
So as a sentence opener has been used in later historical literary works such as:[2]
It is widely believed that the recent ascendancy of so as a sentence opener began in Silicon Valley. Michael Lewis, in his book The New New Thing, published in 1999, noted that "When a computer programmer answers a question, he often begins with the word 'so.'" Microsoft employees have long argued that the "so" boom began with them.[2][3][4]
to signal that the following words are chosen for their relevance to the listener[7]
to provide a small amount of extra thinking time[8]
In his Modern English translation of Beowulf, Irish poet Seamus Heaney uses "So" to translate the single-word opening line, Hwæt! (also rendered 'lo', 'hark', 'listen', etc). He explains that "in Hiberno-English Scullion-speak [...] 'so' operates as an expression that obliterates all previous discourse and narrative, and at the same time functions as an exclamation calling for immediate attention. So, 'so' it was".[9]
A dangling "so" in conversation invites the listener to articulate or consider the implications of the information provided without the speaker having to articulate it himself or herself.[11][12] It has been interpreted as sometimes a form of bragging.[13]
A dangling "so" in conversation may be represented in text as "so" followed by an ellipsis: "...".[1][14] Examples of dangling "so":
"Yeah, it's pretty exciting, though we're not really sure whether it will work out, so..."
Speaker 1: "How was your date?" Speaker 2: "Well, he didn't show up, so..."
"So" may close a sentence as an intensifying adverb, such as in "I love her so". "So" in the middle of a sentence can also be an intensifying adverb, such as in "I so love her".[14]
