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

[DaviDC.]

vicrock wrote:
Two pet peeves of mine are "ink pen" and "cent" - as in your change is 50 cent.

Well, in the South, pen & pin are pronounced the same, therefore ink pen denotes a writing instrument as opposed to a slender shaft of steel. It tends to be more useful than annoying to most folks.

[OWC Jamie]

Watch P.Allen Smith's gardening show on PBS and see how many minutes until that condescending "You see" has you switching channels ...

I like his show but that phrase I can't stand !

[Mini 9]

Okay. Enough already. You already HAVE a basis for your very own drinking game and possibly iOS App.

[PeterB]

silvarios wrote:
[quote=PeterB]
My point was that adding "Well" to the beginning of the sentence has an element of PCness, yes...

What? Or better yet, how? What is politically correct about "well"? Has the whole world gone mad?
Well, adding "well" to the beginning of the sentence is (as others have pointed out) a modifier, which really doesn't need to be there in a lot of cases. It can be an attempt to modify speech so as to either make it less threatening, less committal, or more diffuse-- and also less exacting.

"Each of these passages has faults of its own, but, quite apart from avoidable ugliness, two qualities are common to all of them. The first is staleness of imagery; the other is lack of precision. The writer either has a meaning and cannot express it, or he inadvertently says something else, or he is almost indifferent as to whether his words mean anything or not. This mixture of vagueness and sheer incompetence is the most marked characteristic of modern English prose, and especially of any kind of political writing. As soon as certain topics are raised, the concrete melts into the abstract and no one seems able to think of turns of speech that are not hackneyed: prose consists less and less of words chosen for the sake of their meaning, and more and more of phrases tacked together like the sections of a prefabricated hen-house. I list below, with notes and examples, various of the tricks by means of which the work of prose-construction is habitually dodged."

http://www.orwell.ru/library/essays/poli...sh/e_polit

[Mr Downtown]

Well, I would never do it in formal writing, the subject of the passage you quote. There I value brevity and precision, like anyone suckled on The Elements of Style. Exchanges in online forums are more like conversation, though. One adds little grace notes to show comradery and politeness to the other participants, just as one engages conversational partners in small talk and banter that will be little noted nor long remembered. Though efficient, taciturn responses are not seen as friendly encouragements of continued conversation. Online, in the absence of gestures and facial expressions, these grace notes become even more important. lol.

[haikuman]

I am going to call Martin Buber in from the grave........ Peter started a fun thread for me *(:>* he shared a honest thought and point of view and has taken our points in a good spirit and even joined in. So lets not go to the well to often hammering Peter like wellington boot leather. Be kind and forgiving to each other.

"cause everythin's wrong, and nothin' ain't right"

Singing the Blues

-Artist: Guy Mitchell
-the # 4 song of the 1955-1959 rock era
-was # 1 for 10 weeks in 1956
-Words and Music by Melvin Endsley
-competing version by Marty Robbins hit # 17




Well, I never felt more like singin' the blues
'cause I never thought that I'd ever lose
Your love dear, why'd you do me this way?
Well, I never felt more like cryin' all night
'cause everythin's wrong, and nothin' ain't right
Without you, you got me singin' the blues.

I love this game *(:>*

[PeterB]

Rudie, don't worry, I can be hammered like the boot leather. I think Orwell would have approved of that particular turn of phrase.

[Mac-A-Matic]

Well, since I'm the boss, if my staff doesn't like it, they can SUCK IT!!!!!tormtrooper:

[haikuman]

Well, bite me then *(:>*

[graylocks]

well, whatever.