Discussion»Questions»Language» Is the word 'so' rapidly and progressively surpassing the word 'like' as the most widely misused word in the English language?
It depends on whether you're talking about British or American English.
For example, Americans say "like" when a Brit would say "as if" and both are correct in their context, even if a little rough around the edges.
But "so"? Again, it means different things to different people, partly depending on the spelling. The sower sows the seed but sews the the garment. Things can be "just so" if perfect; or "so so" when mediocre, or if a politician, "a so-and-so". But to a chess player it has an awe-inspiring meaning. For super-grandmaster Wesley So, formerly of the Philippines and now playing for the US, is so good that only three people in the world (Carlsen, Caruana, and Kramnik) are rated higher than him. So put that in your pipe and smoke it.
(I actually wrote a bio about Wesley So for a chess website back about 2005 when he was just starting out.)
This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at February 1, 2017 11:49 PM MST
So like, I don't like think so. Cause when most people like use so, they are like using like with so, so no like, like still has the lead, so. So like, what do you like think of like that, so?
This post was edited by my2cents at February 1, 2017 11:07 PM MST
YES!!! There's a woman who sits near me who starts EVERY sentence with "So." At the end of a 10 minute conversation, I want to stick a fork in her neck.
Misused? I'll contest that. Overused, yes. "So" has assumed the function of a filler word, much like "like", that is used to fill in pauses in discourse or diffuse awkwardness. I find its overuse just increases awkwardness, however.
This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at February 1, 2017 9:39 PM MST
I've heard words like "like" and "so" are often dragooned into being gap-fillers, but many people use both words so habitually and so out of context that I don't believe them capable of constructing cohesive, coherent and concise sentences. When that happens I start to doubt they know what they are trying to tell me.
Many business people are better speakers than the types lampooned already here, but they have their equivalent. I remember one manager once used "going forward" so often in a presentation largely in the future tense anyway, that I gave up trying to listen to the message.
Timely con-incidence: some woman on a literary-critic programme on the radio, has only just now used that irritating ".... that I'm like...." in describing her response to something. This woman is supposedly educated and highly literate; but I have noticed panellists of art-critics tend to gabble excitedly among themselves when really enthusiastic about their subject.
Benedict Arnold 