VALERIE GROVE

At the turn of the new year, people start referring to their ‘bucket lists’: things to do before you kick the b. Voyaging to Machu Picchu etc.

Chez nous, we keep non-bucket lists. Never again take a flight involving Dubai Airport. Never again take a flight anywhere, if a train is available. Never venture into the West End on a Saturday night. Never penetrate Oxford Street – or any mass tourism magnet, including the Topkapi Palace and the Sistine Chapel. Never take the tube in the rush hour. Never drive anywhere on a Sunday. Ignore unalluring invitations to tea. Eschew plans requiring new clothes. The list grows, considerably simplifying life.

A radio correspondent becomes very aware of listeners’ litanies of things they never want to hear again, locutions that have red mists forming before their eyes. Their irritations recently made headlines, with news stories, letters to editors, opinion columns, leaders in the Times.

What prompted such widespread concern? Only that two-letter word ‘So’ prefixing the answer to a question – but not indicating consequence. ‘So what?’ was the Times leader’s headline. It is especially misused by academics interviewed on Radio 4. Q: ‘What made you do this research, Professor Jones?’ A: ‘So. We noticed about five years ago that ...’

So ‘so’ became the most hated of all modern verbal tics, or kruche worte (crutch words), according to

The Oldie