Church Talk Makes Men Walk: What the Research Shows and What to Do by Davis Woody L

Author:Davis, Woody L.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wipf & Stock, an Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers
Published: 2017-11-29T00:00:00+00:00

There are sixteen instances of “so” ranging in intensity from “so” to “soooooo” among the females’ posts, but not a single one among those of the males.23

The intensified use of “so” shows up frequently in today’s church, both in talk and in print. Sometimes the intensification is increased by repetition within the sentence, like this: “Here is another seed story from Matthew 13 of how God can take something so tiny and produce so much with it.”24 Neither “so” adds anything of substance to the sentence. In fact, it is stronger without them. The contrast between “tiny” and “much” (or “large” or “great”) is sufficient. The addition of “so” is redundant.

At other times the intensification is increased by lengthening the “so.” The Jesus Daily Facebook page is again instructive. Again, take note of the words and phrases I have italicized for you:

Jesus Daily

LIKE if GOD IS SOOO GOOOD!

LIKE if GOD IS SOOO GOOOD!

LIKE if GOD IS SOOO GOOOD!

LIKE if GOD IS SOOO GOOOD!

LIKE if GOD IS SOOO GOOOD!

LIKE if GOD IS SOOO GOOOD!

LIKE if GOD IS SOOO GOOOD! January 25, 2014 at 10:00am ·

LIKE if GOD is sooooooo GREAT to you!!! January 5, 2014 at 11:19pm ·

LIKE if GOD is sooooooo gooooood to you!!! December 29, 2011 at 8:19pm ·

JESUS, I don’t tell you enough . . . I LOVE YOU SOOOOOO MUCH!!! ♥ December 22, 2011 at 9:15am

The ALL CAPS and “Sooo” and “goooood” and “!!!” and “♥” are pictures of the vocal italics we would hear in a conversation. And they are the source of sarcastic humor in television programs, such as The Simpsons’s Ned Flanders and Saturday Night Live’s Church Lady.

Lakoff, Murphy, and others have identified a number of other intensifiers that are more prevalent in women’s talk, including too(ooo), very (very-very), really (really-really), such (suuuch), quite, definitely, totally (toooa-tlly), completely, extremely, simply, tremendously, altogether, absolutely, super-(as in “super-pleased”), etc. The purpose of all these is to raise the emotional ante of the statement. Consider these italicized examples from church websites and Christians’ Facebook posts:

We had the most wonderful [empty adjective] worship experience this morning. I was so blessed by the congregation and pray that everyone there came away feeling touched by God in a profound way. God is good.25

We are so excited [empty adjective] about our preschool program, Lil’ K. I think you’ll be very pleased with what your child will be learning and the ways in which he/she will be growing spiritually!26

I am enormously excited [empty adjective] about this book . . . 27

So wonderful [empty adjective]! We so very much enjoyed our time at your special [empty adjective] place!28

Thank you so much for inviting me to come back and speak at your church. I had such a wonderful time catching up with people and meeting your youth. Hands down, that was the best youth talk I’ve ever had! The guys had such wonderful [empty adjective] questions. I was so encouraged by them. I felt so honored and welcomed. Thank you so much for your support, prayers, and advocacy over the years.

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