BBC Radio requires interviewees to start every answer with the word ‘so’

If you have ever wondered why everyone interviewed on BBC Radio 4 pointlessly and annoyingly begins every answer with the word ‘so’, the reason is simple: the Beeb demands it.

An undercover investigation conducted by Spoofflé discovered a 2017 directive from the Controller of Conjunctive Openings in which Today programme staff were ordered to insist on the irritating habit.

If an interviewee failed to keep using the word every time they started an answer, the memo says they should be cut off with a suitable apology such as “Oh dear, we seem to have lost him.”