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I've been busy finishing a book manuscript, and I'm afraid I have been a little too occupied to read the newspaper lately.  That is the only explanation for how I could have missed this story in the New York Times about the habit of beginning sentences with "So," which I have written about here before.  Interestingly, the story attributes this tic to the Silicon Valley crowd.  But I prefer the explanation of a recent correspondent to the Times, who blames it on academics and writes: "Beginning an answer with ?so? implies that the answerer is drawing a conclusion from a body of knowledge to which she is privy and the listener is not. She is not just answering; she is explaining. The tone is professorial and slightly condescending."  I will not agree or disagree with the last word; I am just duly noting it.  In any event, an interesting couple of pieces for those of us who are fascinated by the "So" trend.

(I should add, on further reflection and after looking at the last sentence on my laptop screen, that I find it interesting that no one has blamed the trend on Peter Gabriel.)  

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