When So Becomes Annoying

When So Becomes Annoying When â€Å"So† Becomes Annoying When â€Å"So† Becomes Annoying By Maeve Maddox The tiny English word so has numerous uses. Merriam-Webster gives it separate entries as adverb, conjunction, adjective, and pronoun. Most of the time, little so goes about its business unnoticed, but one of its functions has been provoking heated discussion on the Web: the use of so as â€Å"a discourse marker.† The term â€Å"discourse marker† was coined in the 1960s to describe â€Å"a word or phrase whose function is to organize discourse into segments and situate a clause, sentence, etc., within a larger context.† Here are some words and phrases commonly used as discourse markers in speech: well you know like now I think you see oh I mean OK actually These are words we all interject into speech for reasons that have nothing to do with grammar. For example: Well, I was a little worried. Now, a clever man would put the poison into his own goblet. You know, not everyone shares your opinion on that. OK, let’s take a vote. I think I’ll go now. These markers serve no grammatical function, but they do advance discourse in various ways. As a discourse marker at the beginning of a sentence, so may do any of the following: initiate discourse So, how was the interview? mark a shift in topic or activity So, what should we do now? begin an explanation So, disconnect the power cord and remove the back panel. preface the response to any question Interviewer: What is the focus of your research? Interview subject: So, I study samples of creek water to track pollution. avoid giving a direct answer Interviewer: Why did you lay off so many workers? Interview subject: So, our sales have been stagnant for some time. The use of so as a sentence-starter has provoked numerous discussions on the Web. Business consultant Hunter Thurman gives three reasons for avoiding the practice of beginning a sentence with so: 1. â€Å"So† insults your audience. 2. â€Å"So undermines your credibility. 3. â€Å"So† demonstrates that you’re not 100% comfortable with what you’re saying. PR consultant Cherry Chapell, on the other hand, sees this use of so as â€Å"a good way of giving yourself time to think.† Linguistics professor Penelope Gardner-Chloros suggests that a speaker who starts an answer with so â€Å"is saying what he wants to say, like a politician- but trying to make it sound like it’s an answer to the question.† Like many linguistic targets of criticism, so as a sentence-starter draws extreme reactions from the general public. I’ve seen comments that question the intelligence of speakers who begin sentences with so and accuse them of defiling the language. I’ve seen other comments that cite the fact that Seamus Heaney translated the opening â€Å"Hwaet† of Beowulf as â€Å"So!† as proof that so must be all right in any context. The reality is that sometimes so is an appropriate sentence-starter, and sometimes it is an irritant. When a speaker habitually begins sentences with so, listeners may react in one of two ways. Some are able to filter out the so’s and concentrate on content. Others, however, are distracted by them and may tune out the content as they count the so’s. When beginning a sentence with so becomes a verbal tic, it has lost its usefulness as a discourse marker. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the General category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:100 Mostly Small But Expressive Interjections"Gratitude" or "Gratefulness"?10 Varieties of Syntax to Improve Your Writing

Eggplant Domestication History and Genealogy

Eggplant Domestication History and Genealogy Eggplant (Solanum melongena), also known as aubergine or brinjal, is a cultivated crop with a mysterious but well-documented past. Eggplant is a member of the Solanaceae family, which includes its American cousins potatoes, tomatoes, and peppers). But unlike the American Solanaceae domesticates, eggplant is believed to have been domesticated in the Old World, likely India, China, Thailand, Burma or someplace else in southeast Asia. Today there are approximately 15-20 different varieties of eggplant, grown primarily in China. Using Eggplants The first use of eggplant was probably medicinal rather than culinary: its flesh still has a bitter after-taste if it is not treated properly, despite centuries of domestication experimentation. Some of the earliest written evidence for the use of eggplant is from the Charaka and Sushruta Samhitas, Ayurvedic texts written about 100 BC that describe the health benefits of eggplant. The domestication process increased the fruit size and weight of eggplants  and altered the prickliness, flavor, and flesh and peel color, a centuries-long process which is carefully documented in ancient Chinese literature. The earliest domestic relatives of eggplant described in Chinese documents had small, round, green fruits, while todays cultivars feature an incredible range of colors. The prickliness of the wild eggplant is an adaptation to protect itself from herbivores; the domesticated versions have few or no prickles, a trait selected by humans so that we omnivores can pluck them safely. Eggplants Possible Parents The progenitor plant for S. melongena is still under debate. Some scholars pinpoint S. incarnum, a native of North Africa and the Middle East, that developed first as a garden weed and then was selectively grown and developed in southeast Asia. However, DNA sequencing has provided evidence that S. melongena is likely descended from another African plant S. linnaeanum, and that that plant was dispersed throughout the Middle East and into Asia before becoming domesticated. S. linnaeanum produces small, round green-striped fruit. Other scholars suggest that the true progenitor plant has not been identified yet, but was probably located in the savannas of southeast Asia. The real problem in trying to resolve the domestication history of eggplant is that archaeological evidence supporting any eggplant domestication process is lackingevidence for eggplant simply hasnt been found in archaeological contexts, and so researchers must rely on a set of data that includes genetics but also a wealth of historical information. Ancient History of the Eggplant Literary references to eggplant occur in Sanskrit literature, with the oldest direct mention dated from the third century AD; a possible reference may date as early as 300 BC. Multiple references have also been found in the vast Chinese literature, the earliest of which is in the document known as the Tong Yue, written by Wang Bao in 59 BC. Wang writes that the one should separate and transplant eggplant seedlings at the time of the Spring equinox. The Rhapsody on Metropolitan of Shu, 1st century BC-1st century AD, also mentions eggplants. Later Chinese documentation records the specific changes that were deliberately wrought by Chinese agronomists in domesticated eggplants: from round and small green fruit to large and long-necked fruit with a purple peel. Illustrations in Chinese botanical references dated between the 7-19th centuries AD document the alterations in eggplants shape and size; interestingly, the search for a better flavor is also documented in Chinese records, as the Chinese botanists endeavored to remove the bitter flavor in the fruits. Eggplant is believed to have been brought to the attention of the Middle East, Africa and the West by Arabic traders along the Silk Road, beginning around the 6th century AD. However, earlier carvings of eggplants have been found in two regions of the Mediterranean: Iassos (within a garland on a Roman sarcophagus, ​the first half of the 2nd century AD) and Phrygia (a fruit carved on a grave stele, 2nd century AD). Yilmaz and colleagues suggest a few samples may have been brought back from Alexander the Greats expedition to India. Sources DoÄŸanlar, Sami. High resolution map of eggplant (Solanum melongena) reveals extensive chromosome rearrangement in domesticated members of the Solanaceae. Amy FraryMarie-Christine Daunay, Volume 198, Issue 2, SpringerLink, July 2014. Isshiki S, Iwata N, and Khan MMR. 2008. ISSR variations in eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) and related Solanum species. Scientia Horticulturae 117(3):186-190. Li H, Chen H, Zhuang T, and Chen J. 2010. Analysis of genetic variation in eggplant and related Solanum species using sequence-related amplified polymorphism markers. Scientia Horticulturae 125(1):19-24. Liao Y, Sun B-j, Sun G-w, Liu H-c, Li Z-l, Li Z-x, Wang G-p, and Chen R-y. 2009. AFLP and SCAR Markers Associated with Peel Color in Eggplant (Solanum melongena). Agricultural Sciences in China 8(12):1466-1474. Meyer RS, Whitaker BD, Little DP, Wu S-B, Kennelly EJ, Long C-L, and Litt A. 2015. Parallel reductions in phenolic constituents resulting from the domestication of eggplant. Phytochemistry 115:194-206. Portis E, Barchi L, Toppino L, Lanteri S, Acciarri N, Felicioni N, Fusari F, Barbierato V, Cericola F, Valà ¨ G et al. 2014. QTL Mapping in Eggplant Reveals Clusters of Yield-Related Loci and Orthology with the Tomato Genome. PLoS ONE 9(2):e89499. Wang J-X, Gao T-G, and Knapp S. 2008. Ancient Chinese Literature Reveals Pathways of Eggplant Domestication. Annals of Botany 102(6):891-897. Free download Weese TL, and Bohs L. 2010. Eggplant origins: Out of Africa, into the Orient. Taxon 59:49-56. Yilmaz H, Akkemik U, and Karagoz S. 2013. Identification of plant figures on stone statues and sarcophaguses and their symbols: the Hellenistic and Roman periods of the eastern Mediterranean basin in the Istanbul Archaeology Museum. Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry 13(2):135-145.