Grammar: "So" as a modifier?

[Geoff Hart <ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca>]

Arroxane wonders: <<This time we discussed "so" as a modifier. For 
example, "We are so lost" (instead of "very?) or "That is so an 
inconvenience" (instead of "such"?).  I commented that this usage was 
incorrect, but really can't back it up with a grammatical rule.>>

The usage you're giving as an example is very "new-fashioned" and 
considered informal because of its current association with youth-speak 
("you are so hosed"). That's probably why you consider it to sound 
"wrong"; good writers have a powerful "it looks funny" filter for words 
in specific genres, such as formal writing.

If you never see it in typical technical documentation--which you 
don't--it's wrong because it's not part of the standard vocabulary 
readers have grown comfortable reading. But if you were writing docs 
for 733T ("leet", the jargon such as "C U L8R" used by teens for 
instant messaging), it might be perfectly appropriate in your 
docs--provided you know how to talk the talk so that you don't sound 
like an old fogey (me, for instance) trying to sound "hip". (You know 
you're an old fogey if you use the word "hip". <g>

<<If a grammatical rule for this situation exists, I have forgotten 
it.>>

One rule is probably more important than grammaer: know the language of 
your audience. But the grammatical rule is that the "so" is serving 
either as an adverb ("are so X", where "so" modifies the "are") or 
adjective (so-called, where "so" modifies "called"), and so long as it 
fits in the correct place for one of those word forms, it's a correct 
use.

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Geoff Hart   ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca
(try geoffhart -at- mac -dot- com if you don't get a reply)
www.geoff-hart.com
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