Forum Soapbox

[Leman]

So, what exactly is wrong with starting a sentence with "So, ...."

It's a connective. It's rather like starting a sentence with 'and'. Why can't people just say 'umm' or 'well' if they feel the need for preamble before telling us  what they actually want to say. It's another one of those things that didn't exist ten years ago. Rather like the days before Neighbours reached our shores and the only sentences which rose in pitch at the end actually were questions.

[Leon]

So, what you're saying is, you watch Neighbours...?!

And Home and Away as well?

[Luddite]

It's a connective. It's rather like starting a sentence with 'and'.

And yet, subordinating conjunctions like 'although' are perfectly acceptable.  Although coordinating conjunctives like 'and' are often considered 'incorrect' at the beginning of a sentence, this is actually a matter of preference rather than a grammatical rule. 

It is very common to find conjuctives used throughout the history of literature, by even the greatest authors.

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

So a needle pulling thread?

Who let Julie Andrews in.

IanS

[getagrip]

OFSTED...

We have them in today, woo hoo! 

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Good luck!

[getagrip]

Good luck!

Cheers mate, just catching a bit of forum time before I head home.

I have my grilling meeting with them tomorrow

Two inspectors, 1 hour, poor little old Grip, all on his own...

...bring it on!

[Leon]

Two phrases that are commonly used wrongly:

"I could care less..." when it should be "I couldn't care less..." This one seems to be more common in America, to the point where I think the incorrect version is more widely used now.

"We could of done better..." when it should be "We could have done better..."  I get that the spoken words can sound like an 'of', but that doesn't make it right.   

[getagrip]

"We could of done better..." when it should be "We could have done better..."  I get that the spoken words can sound like an 'of', but that doesn't make it right.   

Agreed!

[Techno]

I've never heard the phrase, "I could care less", before.....
Whatever ! 
Cheers - Phil

[fsn]

I have my grilling meeting with them tomorrow

Two inspectors, 1 hour, poor little old Grip, all on his own...

...bring it on!

My money's on you.

[Ithoriel]

So, I could've done better .... like I could care less  

Although, knock 'em dead grips!

[Leman]

Put simply. some things to some ears just sound wrong, and no amount of grammatical shilly-shallying is ever going to change that until that particular generation dies off. To me the constant use of so as a sentence starter, the far too frequent end of sentence pitch rise, and to go boldly where no one has gone before just sound wrong.

[getagrip]

My money's on you.

Cheers mate 

[Leman]

Oh yeah, Ofsted are a shower of shysters. Of course they find things wrong, otherwise they're out of a job. If they don't find enough wrong they change the rules so that they will. Ofsted, otherwise known as Morale Boosters R Us.