Nice interdating of GenX "so"

[Jesse Sheidlower]

The earliest example of so-called "GenX so" in OED is from a
Ronald Firbank novel in 1923 (discovered by OED managing
editor Michael Proffitt whilst randomly flipping in a
train-station bookshop):

1923 R. Firbank _Flower beneath Foot_ i. 16 What can you _see_
in her..? She's so housemaid.

After that, it's a leap to the more expected GenX territory
of _Heathers_ in 1988.

Until now:

1979 'W. Allen' & M. Brickman _Manhattan_ in _Four Films W.
Allen_ (1982) 194 _Yale_: He's a big Bergman fan, you
know. _Mary_: Oh, please, you know. God, you're so the
opposite! I mean, you write that absolutely fabulous
television show. It's brilliantly funny and his view is so
Scandinavian.

Jesse Sheidlower
OED

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