Recently I've noticed that students making assembly announcements at the high school where I teach invariably preface their proclamations with "so," followed by a brief pause and then their statement. "So . . . We're having a bake sale."; "So . . . There's a yearbook meeting scheduled for today."; "So . . . the volleyball tournament is this weekend."

Here "so" functions as a handy, all-purpose transitional word that breaks the ice, esta ...

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