[acecharly]

Why do all scientists seem lately to start their reply with the word....So?

[Don_1]

Because they live in hope that after a 'so', they will be able to reap the harvest of just rewards.

Or perhaps they consider their answer to be a stitch in time.

I don't start my replies with 'so'......... Just a minute....... I'm not a scientist!

What the hell am I doing answering this question?

Is there a scientist in the house?

[David Cooper]

So, if you want to pass yourself off as a scientist...

It may be short for: "So, let me see if I can explain this in some way that this person will have a chance of being able to follow..."

[acecharly]

I only asked for fun a it does seem to the fashion lately  ;D

[Don_1]

I only asked for fun a it does seem to the fashion lately  ;D

I do get your drift. The words which I find are over used and often at the commencement of speaking on radio phone-in progs are "you know" & "basically".

Go on, give it try, tune in to any local radio station and listen to a topical phone-in. I'll guarantee that you will hear these words over and over again by virtually every caller. I get so annoyed that even if the context is interesting, I just have to tune in to some other station or turn off.

"Basically, what I want to say is, you know, basically, you know.........."

AGHHHHH!!! SHUT UP!!!

[Geezer]

I only asked for fun a it does seem to the fashion lately  ;D

I do get your drift. The words which I find are over used and often at the commencement of speaking on radio phone-in progs are "you know" & "basically".

Go on, give it try, tune in to any local radio station and listen to a topical phone-in. I'll guarantee that you will hear these words over and over again by virtually every caller. I get so annoyed that even if the context is interesting, I just have to tune in to some other station or turn off.

"Basically, what I want to say is, you know, basically, you know.........."

AGHHHHH!!! SHUT UP!!!

So what's your point, exactly?

[acecharly]

I think it sounds a little foreign, like a person you may hear on TV in an interview who is say a mad german scientist with crazy white hair and has not quite got a grasp of pronunciation................(the sentence which follows is given more umf if you pinch your nose as you read it out i found  ;D ) .Soooo vee take zee sulphuric acid and mix it viv zee nitric acid and cotton vool unt booomenhousen!!!.... lol

Sooooo I guess the main idea here is, if your gonna be a scientist, may aswell be a mad one...!!!!

[Don_1]

I only asked for fun a it does seem to the fashion lately  ;D

I do get your drift. The words which I find are over used and often at the commencement of speaking on radio phone-in progs are "you know" & "basically".

Go on, give it try, tune in to any local radio station and listen to a topical phone-in. I'll guarantee that you will hear these words over and over again by virtually every caller. I get so annoyed that even if the context is interesting, I just have to tune in to some other station or turn off.

"Basically, what I want to say is, you know, basically, you know.........."

AGHHHHH!!! SHUT UP!!!

So what's your point, exactly?

Basically ..........

[acecharly]

I only asked for fun a it does seem to the fashion lately  ;D

I do get your drift. The words which I find are over used and often at the commencement of speaking on radio phone-in progs are "you know" & "basically".

Go on, give it try, tune in to any local radio station and listen to a topical phone-in. I'll guarantee that you will hear these words over and over again by virtually every caller. I get so annoyed that even if the context is interesting, I just have to tune in to some other station or turn off.

"Basically, what I want to say is, you know, basically, you know.........."

AGHHHHH!!! SHUT UP!!!

So what's your point, exactly?

Basically ..........

You know......Don.......basically......... i dont think your taking this question seriously.

[David Cooper]

Susie on Countdown addressed this issue today, though she didn't specifically mention scientists. She discussed a case where someone from a technology company started every reply with "so" during a TV interview. She then mentioned another occasion where an interviewer got so fed up of his interviewee starting every sentence with "so" that he started all his questions with "anyway". The reason for this use of "so" is not clear to linguists, but they generally think it's really just a new way of saying "er" or "um" - a way of buying time. [Jo Brand, the guest in dictionary corner, chipped in at that point and suggested that "anti-disestablishmentarianism" would be much better for that purpose.] I think it's usually pronounced much to positively to be equivalent to an "er" or "um" - it's more like a "well", which can also be pronounced positively as an alternative to being a direct equivalent to "er" and "um". Its meaning, just like a positive "well", seems to mean something like "Okay - I'm going to address that now." When it's pronounced less positively, it seems to mean "Okay - let me have a go at answering that."