Mini-rant: use of the word "well" at the start of a sentence...

[haikuman]

My Whelps are going to eat this rant alive *(:>*

[N-OS X-tasy!]

Deep subject.

[PeterB]

I'd just prefer that the people in question come out and say what they want to say, without the "Well," prefix. "Let's see how it goes" is more succinct, direct, unambiguous, and to the point than, "Well, let's see how it goes." The "Well," adds an unnecessary level of implied doubt. Oh, and I should add: I mostly see this coming from the current generation of younger women (= college age), I have yet to read this coming from a male. Except for in this thread, of course.

[Mini 9]

grads of WELLesely college, I presume?

[haikuman]

Well don't get your knickers in a bunch honey ko :whine:

[kap]

haikuman wrote:
Well don't get your knickers in a bunch honey ko :whine:

Whose mistress is that?
Well?

[Janit]

In the mouth of an effective speaker, a well-placed "well" at the beginning of a sentence can be very dramatic, unlike the empty wells that inexperienced speakers commonly fall into...

[haikuman]

Thats my GF Lilian :thumbsup: <~~~~Whose mistress is that? <~~~~ kap
Well?

Well I think it is time to quit monkeying around with this thread :burnout: *(:>*

[Mr Downtown]

Well, how would you suggest adding a hint of indirectness to an oppositional statement? It's a softener, a sign that you don't want to be entirely adversarial with your response. Especially online, writing "well, I don't think you're correct about that" is less abrupt and confrontational than simply writing "you're not correct about that." I may be just as confident of my facts or position, but I don't want you to leave the discussion.

[Janit]

PeterB wrote:
I'd just prefer that the people in question come out and say what they want to say, without the "Well," prefix. "Let's see how it goes" is more succinct, direct, unambiguous, and to the point than, "Well, let's see how it goes." The "Well," adds an unnecessary level of implied doubt. Oh, and I should add: I mostly see this coming from the current generation of younger women (= college age), I have yet to read this coming from a male. Except for in this thread, of course.

Good insight -- some of this may be a gender-culture issue, in that many women are brought up to feel discomfort with directness of communication. The "well" serves to mitigate what might otherwise be perceived as too "bossy."