[Ads-l] sentence-final "so"

[Jonathan Lighter]

Larry, I think it can go either way or remain flat.

It can also trail off, as if the speaker is thinking of elaborating further.

JL

On Wed, May 12, 2021 at 10:41 AM Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
wrote:

> Jon, does your sentence-final “so” have a final rising intonation? I’m
> assuming the Irish one Michael mentions doesn’t.
>
> LH
>
> > On May 12, 2021, at 9:51 AM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> wrote:
> >
> > Fascinating.
> >
> > But does it have such wide application?
> >
> > The exx. suggest that, in Ireland, it abbreviates an idiomatic clause
> ("So
> > it is," "So I will.")
> >
> > In my experience in the U.S., what might follow is usually entirely
> vague:
> > "I'm going down to the store, so."  "So you should tell me if you need
> > anything"? "So I'll be gone for a while?" "So I can't do anything else
> > right now"?
> >
> > JL
> >
> > On Wed, May 12, 2021 at 9:23 AM Michael Everson <everson at evertype.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> >> Ubiquitous in Ireland. “It’s a grand day, so (it is.)” “I’ll leave you
> to
> >> it, so (I will).”
> >>
> >> Michael Everson
> >> http://evertype.com
> >>
> >>> On 12 May 2021, at 14:08, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> >> wrote:
> >>>
> >>> I've been noticing this for possibly five years, but it could be more
> or
> >>> less.
> >>>
> >>> Quora.com:
> >>>
> >>> Q: Which is worse, homophobia or cacophobia?
> >>>
> >>> A: I mean, more people are homophobic than cacophobic so.
> >>>
> >>> I'd have put in a comma before "so," because there's usually a pause.
> >>>
> >>> It seems to have developed from a feeling that more should be said, but
> >> the
> >>> speaker doesn't know what.
> >>>
> >>> My feeling is that it was preceded by the (still existing), "so -- you
> >>> know."
> >>>
> >>> JL
> >>> --
> >>> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> >> truth."
> >>>
> >>> ------------------------------------------------------------
> >>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >>
> >> ------------------------------------------------------------
> >> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >>
> >
> >
> > --
> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> truth."
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>


-- 
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org