Hi, I have recently watched a webinar where the speaker used an interesting phrase ‘I so know’. The structure of this phrase surprised me.
Normally, ‘so’ is used before adjectives or adverbs. It can also stand at the end of the sentence, e.g. ‘I hope so’. ‘So do I’ is another example of its usage.
Please, could you explain its logic? Or is it an idiom with a fixed order?
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I think it’s modern colloquial English that follows the same patterns as 'I so hate consequences" or “I so don’t like him”, etc. It means “I hate consequences very much”, “I hate him a lot”, etc.
Let me know if this makes sense.
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Thank you, Torsten. I didn’t know about these patterns.
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Yes, ‘so’ has fairly recently taken on a new persona. It follows the pattern of - to considerable an extent’ - extremely and popularly with disparaging remarks like - The way you lead your life is so 1960.
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So does it mean that his way of life is old-fashioned?
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Yes, it means that the person using this phrase thinks that the other person is leading a very old-fashioned lifestyle.
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Hi Irina,
Good to hear from you. How are you keeping these days in the midst of our invisible common enemy?
Yes, you have hit the nail on the head in your explanation of my example. The only additional points I would make are -
1 the adverb ‘so’ has to be said in a slow drawl
2 the expression is intended to be sarcastic .
Stay safe,
Alan xx
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Hello Alan,
Thank you, I’m fine and you? My remote work and learning foreign languages (English and German) save me from the lockdown boredom. I tried to start learning French but it’s not my cup of tea really.
It’s interesting that ‘so’ is said in a slow way. Please, could you record some examples? It would be very helpful.
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Hi Irina,
Yes, we’re coping and after 55 years of marriage and 9 weeks of lockdown we still get on with each other!! Next time I’m at my desk, I’ll do some recording.
A
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Thank you, Alan!
Take care, Irina x
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Hi Irina,
Some more examples for you + recording -
I believe that a gentleman should always hold the door open for a lady but I’m told I’m so 1950s!
The film was about a girl falling in love with a murderer. It was really boring and oh so black and white movies!
He made a long speech and kept contradicting himself every few minutes - he was so Boris Johnson!
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After a long time, I could listen Sir Alan’s voice which is so nice to hear.
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Hi Irina,
Did you manage to listen to my recording?
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Hi Alan,
Thank you for the recording. They are great examples!
Probably, I’ll record my examples with ‘so’ a bit later.
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Hi Irina,
I’ll look forward to hearing that. Don’t leave it too long!
A
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Hi Alan,
Thank you very much for the record. I’m sorry for delaying with my recording. Here are my examples:
When he speaks German, he feels embarrassed - I so know this feeling.
The coach, whose webinar I’ve recently watched, talked a lot about effective communications - he was so Dale Carnegie.
Irina
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Hi Irina,
Thank you for that It was clear and crisp. Just one point, to get the full sense of this ‘so’ construction you need to just elongate ‘so’ a little more and then pause before. the next word. I could repeat your sentences, if you like, to illustrate further. On the personal side, I found your accent very attractive.
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Hi Alan,
Thanks a lot for your comment. Yes, it would be very helpful if you could repeat my sentences.
Please, could you stress some general phonetic features which I should focus on? I would like to improve my pronunciation so much.
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Thank you very much, Alan!
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