So, how do you feel about "so" on SO?

Question

So, I feel I may be a bit pedantic here. Am I the only one who gets irritated by the hundreds of questions that start with the completely redundant "so"?

"So I have this problem", says one.

"So this library may have a bug", says another.

"So this code is giving an error", a third user might ask. Why? I want to ask back. Isn't "this code is giving an error" clear enough? What does the "so" add?

I always feel compelled to edit out the "so", but then feel I am being obsessive, maybe even offensive. So what? I ask myself. These people are engineers; redundancy is built into their psyche. I resist the urge and let the "so" go.

But no more. I need to ask.

So, here goes: what do you think? Does starting my questions with "so" make me a sloppy so-and-so, or is it a hidden tribute to the capital SO, our beloved Stack Overflow? :)

And so?

18 hours ago, I posted this with fingers crossed. I hoped people would see the humour in it and it wouldn't earn me the ire of my peers. I am grateful that so many took it seriously or gently, saw the humour, and joined in. Thank you.

I realise that this question cannot have a definitive answer, hence I will +1 those who responded, but I will not tick a specific one, I will let the community do that with their votes. Some conclusions are possible, nonetheless:

• in these 18 hours, this post itself got 23 up-votes and nine down. That tells me there is a sizeable minority who would get irritated with micro-edits of this nature and it would be counterproductive to press on an issue like this since it could be divisive;
• while answers agree that there is needless redundancy in this usage of the word "so", they also agree that the ugliness of "so" is in the eye of the beholder and they would only edit it if it was part of a more comprehensive (and therefore overall more helpful) edit.

Parting thoughts

• My lesson: leave "so" alone unless as part of a question overhaul.
• My secret wish: that this question and discussion might prompt some to self-edit and voluntarily adopt a more correct style. I would so love to see the back of the leading "so" but I agree it is wiser to let it just slink away on its own.

Answer 1

Yeah, most questions don't need "so" in the title or question itself, but I wouldn't edit it out if that was the only problem.

Answer 2

As long as it isn't ungrammatical or adversely affecting comprehensibility, my MO is to leave it alone. I tend to shy away from making edits based on judgements of style, because some people are pretty touchy about being corrected unless you have good reason.

You have to realise that this is only annoying you because you've read a lot of questions beginning with "so". Unless the word is being repeated several times within the same question, an individual OP isn't at fault.

So, long story short: yes a fraction of the sentence doesn't add anything to the question; no you probably shouldn't edit unless it was packaged with broader changes to improve readability. Choice of phrasing isn't our business unless it obscures what the author means.

Answer 3

Because people who don't write well often write the way they talk. They do things like start sentences with conjunctions, conjugating their verbs wrong, using adjectives like adverbs, making unclear phrasings, and using transitional words that aren't necessary in written language.

It bugs me, too, so I say just hit that "edit" button and clean it up. Don't forget to take a pass at everything else that can be fixed, though, so the post is left substantially better. One little verbal tic isn't really worth so much worry.

_{Resurrected from https://meta.stackexchange.com/a/126575/}

Answer 4

One point seems to be lacking in your analysis: many users aren't good English writers. I know I'm not.

When you feel your sentences are strange, hard, and lack the roundness and fluency that you see in the texts you read, and you'd like them to look more native, then you take oral forms that are more familiar. And, as a kind of introduction, you have this "So" which marks the start of your intervention, just like when you start to speak and clearing your throat helps launching the movement of your discourse. "So", which normally refers to an already-mentioned context, takes also here the place of an introduction you don't know how to make with eloquence in a few words. Slightly similar to this is the "Well" with which I know I start far too many of my comments. They're totally useless, bring no meaning, and are irritating.

As someone who likes to learn, which should be the most common quality in there, I love to be corrected. I know I'll pay attention if somebody who feels confident about it fixes the grammatical mess that is my question or my answer. That's why I think fixing those minor errors might be a valuable edit, especially when doing so would have a chance of broadcasting a message to other readers.

And as a learning reader, I'd prefer to read correctly written questions, which makes one more reason for this edit.

This being said, minor edits are a pain, especially on a badly asked question in its first few minutes: they break the flow of editions and they make people refresh the question. Don't make this edit if it seems probable that other editors might be editing. And of course don't make this kind of edit if you don't have enough reputation to bypass reviewers.

Answer 5

It's become a common way of introducing an element, comment or question. In itself, it's hardly the most challenging issue on SO. I can cite far more worrying issues, but I remove it if I'm editing - along with Like, well, see, yeah etc.

Whilst many of us are sticklers for grammar, punctuation and spelling (I find myself correcting spelling/titles/words on a near daily basis), I'll overlook it in favour of more important elements.

It's ironic isn't it - We're in an age of such intellectual growth and progress, yet now we have people (usually younger) removing vowels from words on a daily basis because they can't be bothered - but starting a sentence with "So" isn't so bad.

Answer 6

I really don't think it's needed in the question.

The dictionary says:

...in a manner or way indicated or suggested —often used as a substitute for a preceding clause [are you ready? I think so] [I didn't like it and I told her so]

From that I gather the phrase "so" is usually used in reference to something already discussed, and, IMO, doesn't add anything to the question and should be removed.

So that is how I feel about "so".

I currently can't think of any scenario where the "so" would be a useful addition to the question. Maybe someone else can.

Answer 7

I was just led here when I raised the question in the Teacher's Lounge.

My view is that it's the equivalent to the verbal ticks teens and adults all seem to use. I give my teen daughter 12 "likes" until I make a remark. Sometimes it comes within the first 2 minutes of a conversation.

Yesterday on CNBC, an otherwise intelligent businessman was being interviewed, and used the phrase "if you will". After the 3rd utterance, I thanked my maker for the skip button on my TiVo, and passed over the rest of the interview.

When I see a new question start with "so" I quickly edit. I avoid that on old questions due to the bump factor. I'm not as obsessed as the guy who edited out "comprised of" from the entire wikipedia, although I think there's a special place in heaven for such people.

That said, I do reserve the right to edit even the oldest posts containing "Me and my wife...."

Answer 8

I think it's just that many people at StackOverflow start a question by politely addressing their audience.