so = 'absolutely; utterly; such'

[Jonathan Lighter]

And one of its paradigmatic characteristics is its frequent use also
before "not."

Cf. colloq./SE "This is so crazy" with slang/colloq. "This is so not crazy."

I'm not sure that 'definitely' is a "better" gloss, but it is a helpful one.

(N.b., *not* "soooo a helpful one," in part because that is almost as
likely to sound ironic. Or - as they say - is it just me?)

JL

On Fri, Dec 9, 2011 at 11:12 AM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: so = 'absolutely; utterly; such'
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Dec 9, 2011, at 11:00 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>
>> It's noteworthy because it feels completely ungrammatical - certainly
>> before the indefinite article.
>>=20
>> Maybe 'so very much' is a better definition.
>>=20
>>=20
> I don't think so, because standard use of "so very much" is scalar or =
> gradable, while the Gen-X or Drama "so" (cf. e.g. =
> http://microsyntax.sites.yale.edu/drama-so), appearing before predicate =
> nominal DPs ("the opposite", "a cuddle day") or not, isn't restricted to =
> gradable contexts.  Cf. e.g. "That's so not the right answer".   "He's =
> so not Mr. Right".  'definitely' is a better gloss than 'so very much', =
> I'd argue.  Or late 60's Californian 'fer sher'.
>
> LH
>
>
>> On Fri, Dec 9, 2011 at 10:26 AM, Ben Zimmer
>> <bgzimmer at babel.ling.upenn.edu> wrote:
>>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header =
> -----------------------
>>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>> Poster:       Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at BABEL.LING.UPENN.EDU>
>>> Subject:      Re: so =3D 'absolutely; utterly; such'
>>> =
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------=
> -----
>>>=20
>>> On Fri, Dec 9, 2011 at 8:15 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>>>>=20
>>>> The news-gatherers at CNN report that international cultural
>>>> super-icon Snooki has tweeted "I love my tattoos" and "Today is =
> soooo
>>>> [sic] a cuddle day."
>>>>=20
>>>> The use of endemic current "so" (or, as usu. pronounced,
>>>> /sou::::::::::/ [more or less]) immediately before an article is new
>>>> to me.
>>>=20
>>> Well, what Arnold terms "GenX so" has been modifying predicate NPs =
> for
>>> quite a while -- I'm not sure why the presence of an article =
> modifying
>>> the NP would be especially noteworthy. The OED cites an example that
>>> Jesse uncovered from 1979, in the Woody Allen movie _Manhattan_: "Oh,
>>> please, you know. God, you're so the opposite!"
>>>=20
>>> --bgz
>>>=20
>>> --
>>> Ben Zimmer
>>> http://benzimmer.com/
>>>=20
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>=20
>>=20
>>=20
>> --
>> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the =
> truth."
>>=20
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



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