So what?

Anad Giridharadas looks at “a verbal tic that mimics ‘well,’ ‘um’ or ‘like’ and is exceptionally fitting for the digital age,” the word so. According to Giridharadas, “it is widely believed that the recent ascendancy of ‘so’ began in Silicon Valley [since] ‘so’ suggested a kind of thinking that appealed to problem-solving software types: conversation as a logical, unidirectional process — if this, then that.” Alas, it seems difficult to “Follow my logic,” since a word that is similar to well or um can hardly be described as meaning “if this, then that.”
Yet, so is indeed overused and in fact one of those words to be avoided in writing. It can be used instead of also but only before modal or auxiliary verbs (Average salaries rose, but so did the cost of living). It is appropriate as a conjunction in combination with that (I set two alarm clocks so that I wouldn’t oversleep) to indicate that something is done to make something else possible. In informal settings, so can indicate emphasis as well as take the place of therefore. For instance, one might find Crogs "so 20th century!" but be an enthusiastic "wearer of the FiveFingers almost-shoes [who] can cite practical reasons for sporting monkey-suggestive gear in settings others find inappropriate: you’re supposed to ease into the switch from elaborately engineered athletic shoes, so tooling about the mall in performance footwear makes total sense” ("Bare Necessity" NYTmagazine 5/30/10). However, if used instead of therefore to link two independent clauses that could stand alone, so must be preceded by a semicolon – just as does therefore. Therefore, the sentence should read: “...you’re supposed to ease into the switch from elaborately engineered athletic shoes; so tooling about the mall in performance footwear makes total sense.”
To illustrate the overuse of so, Anad Giridharadas quotes SoS Hillary R. Clinton, saying that “So it’s not only because we believe that universal values support human rights being recognized and respected, but we also think that it’s in the best interest for economic growth and political stability. So we believe that.” The second sentence indeed uses so as a synonym of therefore - or in the logical sense of “if this, then that” while in the first sentence so means also .

Politics

Sentences like "I think this is exactly the right position - as a legal matter, as a policy matter, and as a political matter" (Elena Kagan) tend to puzzle me. What is the difference between a policy matter and a political matter?
Both words derive from Greek polis, meaning city, state. However, while a policy is "a way of doing something that has been officially agreed on and chosen by a political party," or "a particular principle one believes in and influences the person's decision making," political means anything "relating to the government, politics, and public affairs." Thus, a policy matter is a party matter while a political matter is anything that affects government and the public.
An other difference between a policy and a political matter becomes apparent when the second meaning of political is applied, namely "relating to the ways that different people have power within a group." It is the huge difference between a guiding principle that members of a party share and their way to gain, sustain and use power. Interestingly - but not surprisingly - enough, political has a pejorative connotation, implying that being political means "taking sides in party politics" (Online Etymological Dictionary). In other words, it is a euphemism for partisan and has little to do with a guiding principle but a lot with power.

Watz dis?

The prefix dis- usually implies that something is the reverse of something else (e.g. disorganized) or is excluded/taken away (e.g. displaced) or taken apart (e.g. dismantled); it adds a negative connotation to the root words organize/place/ mantel (= frame). But what about discern, which means to understand something – even so it is not easy to grasp – after thoroughly thinking about it? To understand something difficult is certainly a good thing.
Taking something apart, does not necessarily mean to destroy it. Looking at information and picking (cernere) it apart (dis) helps better to understand the whole picture. Similarly, taking (capere) a piece apart (dis) and learning it turns one into a real disciple who is in control (disciplined) of a particular area of knowledge, a discipline.
But even dis- in its meaning of taking something away can convert a root word into something positive. A discount, "counting away" a percentage and thus reducing the price, is nothing anybody would object. And to discover (to take away the cover) and to disentangle (to remove tangles) something makes life more interesting and easier.
A bit more complicated are the words to dispose, to be disposed, and one’s disposition. To dispose of something is quite clear. We take it away from its original position. Yet, putting things into a different position can also mean to sort and organize them, and if our mind is organized, we are disposed to behave in a particular way. Alas, to have a particular disposition or temperament can be a negative as well as quite a positive thing.
Whichever it is, the influence of alcohol will bring it to the fore if the old saying "in vino veritas" is true. If wine doesn't do the trick, maybe brandy, distilled from wine, will. To distill something means to reduce it to drops (stilla) and to get its essence. And when we distill information from a variety of sources, we will - with any luck - be less discombobulated and closer to the truth.

offside

In an article titled “World Cup robberies: Six tips for a safe visit to South Africa,” the Christian Science Monitor on June 9, 2010 offered some tips for anybody travelling to South Africa to watch the FIFA World Cup. A colon introduces either a list, an explanation, or a principle. Since “Six tips for a safe visit to South Africa” is neither a list nor a principle, the tips provided must be the explanation of the robberies. Well, Sherlock Holmes would say, there is “no combination of events for which the wit of man cannot conceive an explanation.”
The reason for the CSM to compile these tips was an “armed robbery of three foreign journalists sent to cover the World Cup on Tuesday night – near the Portuguese team's base camp in Magaliesburg, north of Johannesburg.” Every soccer fan would be rather disappointed to hear that the World Cup is a one-night event. Moreover, if the cup were played at the Portuguese team's base camp, wouldn’t this give the Portuguese an unfair home advantage? Modifiers should be placed as close as possible to the modified element and the sentence be about "Tuesday night'sarmed robbery near the Portuguese team's base camp in Magaliesburg, north of Johannesburg, whose victims were three foreign journalists sent to cover the World Cup."
The first tip, not to “advertise that you are a stranger in town,” makes complete sense since “Criminals look for those who may seem fearful or unfamiliar with an area, or who may not know to take certain precautions, such as putting your wallet in your front pocket, rather than in the back pocket.” The only problem is that the writer apparently took Joyce Carol Oates's advice too literally, namely that every sentence deserves a comma after six words. In fact, the sentence above should not contain a single one.
Tip No.3 suggests to always “Travel in groups. There are areas that are safer than others in South Africa, as in any major city of the world. But you can still pay visits to historic monuments in South Africa – many of which are in older, urban areas – if you travel in a group organized by a tour operator recommended by your hotel.” It’s an astute observation that some areas are safer than other, but who would have thought that historic monuments are in older urban areas.