So, about this message...

[Laurence Horn]

At 10:22 AM -0400 10/27/06, Mark A. Mandel wrote:
>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.

I think of that as the "so anyway" use of "so"--definitely
introducing a topic shift, but not indicating a conclusion to what
preceded it.

LH

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