Sorry, but can we all stop saying ‘So’

I was interested to read Alexandra Shulman’s comment last week about how she wouldn’t care if she never heard the word ‘sorry’ again. The word that makes me want to gouge out my own eyes with an ice-cream scoop is ‘so’.

Almost without exception, whenever someone is asked a question on TV or radio, they start their reply with ‘so’.

On Ken Bruce’s PopMaster on Radio 2, he’ll ask a contestant what kind of music they like, and gets the response: ‘So, I like all things 1990s.’

And when someone is asked on the news something like ‘How long have you worked in the gallery?’ they’ll reply: ‘So, I’ve been here about ten years.’

Once you start hearing it, trust me, you won’t be able to stop.

Glottal stops have now dropped to number two in my chart of irritating speech. I think ‘so’ will be at number one for a long time.

Meanwhile, fresh in at number three is ‘mischievous’, as in

‘The Queen had a very mischievous laugh’, which I’ve been noticing more and more on the radio during these past few weeks.

So… having got that off my chest, I’d better have a lie down.

Sue Wilding, Scarborough