expressions - Why am I always compelled to begin a response with "Well, "?


Because of a certain 140 character limit I've learned where I can trim characters on responses but even after all this time I still reply with "Well, so and so . . ." and I go back and have to delete it (even on comments to this site I start with well and then delete it). Is it because that's generally how I would speak a response and I should watch out there too or is this just me?



Answer



Well, it is a context marker, showing that you are launching a story. Examples of context:


"Did you do your homework today?", "Yes" is an acknowledgment of dialog.


"Did you do your homework today?", "Well, yes" means you want to shift to a story.


"Did you do your homework today?", "Uh, yes", another context marker, means that your answer is unofficial, off-the-record, or unverifiable.


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