So, I've been watching C-Span.

[No Elephants]

So, I've been hearing a lot of people prefacing many of their statements and answers to questions with "So," for no apparent reason.

So, I'm not sure what you think doing that accomplishes, but, truly, it doesn't make you sound any more intelligent. If anything, it does the opposite.

So, it also distracts from what you are saying because listeners keep wondering why you randomly stick "so" in front of most things that you say, whether it belongs there or not.

So, it only seems like a useless, stupid verbal tic that, for some bizarre reason, you, like so many others, have chosen to adopt.

So, why is this oral plague spreading?