So, about this message...

[David Bergdahl]

Well we remember Reagan's discourse-opener, "Well, ..."
-db

On 10/27/06, Mark A. Mandel <mamandel at ldc.upenn.edu> wrote:
>
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Mark A. Mandel" <mamandel at LDC.UPENN.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: So, about this message...
>
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> GLL <guy1656 at OPUSNET.COM> wrote:
> >>>
> This use of 'so' may both be as much a new use as it is a new application
> of
> an existing tool. I've heard radio ads start with 'so' in the same manner.
>
> The use of 'so' implies a continuation of a current conversation,
> indicating
> an extension or a conclusion of a previously established line of
> reasoning.
> If indicating a conclusion, 'so' may be used to indicate a shift in the
> topic: now that [n] had been settled, we can move on to our next agendum.
> <<<
>
> I'm used to it as the beginning of jokes:
>
> "So this Martian walks into a bar..."
>
> Maybe it's a way of pretending that the joke has something to do with the
> previous discourse.
>
> -- Mark
> [This text prepared with Dragon NaturallySpeaking.]
>
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