Legal Commentary

I enjoyed the AALS conference a good deal (notwithstanding the registration fee!), but my one comment about it (actually, one of two, if I ever get around to writing about what Orin recently said on the subject) is a little less substantive.  Judge Guido Calabresi, former Dean of Yale Law School, was the special guest and main luncheon speaker, and gave what I gather is a typically sparkling -- or should that be "twinkling" -- talk.  When he took questions, naturally, Yale grads were in the forefront -- a mathematical certainty, given that according to some studies, everyone currently in the legal academy is either a graduate of Yale Law School or on the faculty of the Harvard Law School.  One Yale grad (I'm assuming) got up and asked Guido a question.  And the first word out of the questioner's mouth was "So . . . ."    

I've written about the Yale So before -- the reflexive tendency to begin any question, comment, or answer, especially in workshop or job-talk circles, with the word "So, . . ."  I have no particular problem with it.  But like any such verbal tic, once you notice it, you can't stop seeing it (or hearing, I guess).  Indeed, one of my colleagues -- a non-Yalie, by the way -- used it to open a question today at a faculty workshop.  It seems to have become ubiquitous.  I personally begin most of my workshop questions and answers with the word "Dude," but the numbers seriously favor "So" as the most popular opening word.

So I will ask again: What gives?  Who at Yale is responsible for sending its graduates out into the world with this word springing from their lips?  Are the Yale So-ers aware that they are doing this?  When did it start?  And, although I don't particularly object to it, when will it end?  And what will replace it?