So...
IS there a single BBC journalist or reporter actually capable of replying to a question without beginning the sentence with the word 'so'? The sudden appearance of upspeak was bad enough, particularly when middle-aged and elderly people began using it later in life and for no apparent reason, but this latest verbal trend is equally irritating and alien. At least to my ears. Here is an example.
Speaker 1: "Do you like porridge?"
Speaker 2: "So, I've been buying porridge for several years now and like it very much."
As far as upspeak is concerned, I concluded some time ago that by making a statement sound like a question, people appear to be lacking in self-confidence and almost checking that a statement is acceptable and inoffensive before it is released into the outside world. And, let's face it, rising social pressure to avoid the wrath of the thought-police and subsequent trial-by-media has never been so great.
As far as this latest phenomenon is concerned, however, with the pre-emptive 'so', it is as though people feel an irrational need to suddenly compose their thoughts and answer-on-demand. I accept that most people tend to imitate the language and sounds that they pick up from others, particularly those who are most impressionable or sociable, and these things do eventually take on a life of their own, but no doubt the roots of this tendency do have something to do with our increasingly Stalinist society.