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

[Ted King]

Mr Downtown wrote:
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.

:agree:

[Janit]

Mr Downtown wrote:
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.

I often use "OK" at the beginning of sentences as a softener. For me it conveys "I hear you..."

"OK, and then..."
"OK, but what if..."
"OK, let's see how it goes..."

[haikuman]

Well ok then let me sleep on it and I will get back to you later *(:>*

[haikuman]

Well sometimes I do get carried away :bomb:

[Will Collier]

I went looking for a clip collection of Reagan saying, "Well," over and over again, but no luck. This was the best I could do:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAQeys_7V7c

[OWC Jamie]

well, I hope they get the darned thing capped.

[RAMd®d]

I don't think "well" is misused nearly so much as "so", particularly in among presenters and people in the Tech industry.

Kids still [abuse] "like" and "you know".

And don't get me started on urban slang were a whole "conversation" can consist solely of "cool" expressions and phrases that impart no unique information.

It appears the OP was referring to nobody in particular as opposed to public speakers. Formal speaking certainly has stricter guidelines compared to general usage compared to word on the street.

It's not easy to find people, professional or lay (or lay professionals) who are well-spoken.

[AlphaDog]

Ted King wrote:
[quote=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.

:agree:
I, too, agree. I was just trying to work my way to the end of the line so I could compose a post in which I said essentially the same thing. Using the word "well" can also imply that a person is still processing information, so the statement they're about to make isn't cast In stone. I'm sure using the word at the beginning of a sentence is sometimes o er used, but I also think there are many times when it's very appropriate. I might even be inclined to start a response with the word myself if someone were to ask if I thought Peter B was in a cranky mood.

Typed on my iPad, and we're still having trouble figuring out how to go back and make corrections. Why don't we have arrow keys so we can get back to the spot we want?!

[OWC Jamie]

Well ?

[AlphaDog]

billb wrote:
Well ?

Well, why is there a space between the last letter of the word and the question mark? Somebody else here does that, too. At first I thought it was a typo, but I've now noticed it's intentional. Is this another of those new fangled things like using only one space between sentences?