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The word so feels wrong to me, but I can’t articulate why. I hear this pattern (I got so many requests to X.) frequently on a particular Youtube channel and I always think to myself You got so many requests that what?

Some definitions for so use it as above, but they tag it with the word ‘informal’, such as:

  1. Informal. very or extremely: I’m so sad.

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/so

That doesn’t tell me what's wrong with the sentence. Why is this use of so considered ‘informal’?

Kit Z. Fox
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pabrams
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  • 'Why' is a difficult question to answer. It is much easier to confirm (or not) that it is informal. It's not very informal: is more likely to be used in informal circumstances but it doesn't sound out of place in formal circumstances. – Mitch Aug 16 '16 at 12:58

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What you miss here is a final clause, of the sort that expresses not so much purpose as result. Such final clauses are commonly introduced by that, though the that is often optional. The following, for instance, would fulfill your expectation without that:

I got so many requests to make Valentine’s treats, I had to spend my whole Sunday baking.

The expectation of a final clause after this sort of so is the mainspring of a standard sort of joke:

My home town was so small . . . [chorused audience response “how small was it?”] . . . the general store only sold privates!

Using so as a simple intensifier, or in other words as a substitute for very, is a common colloquialism and need be eschewed only in formal register.

Brian Donovan
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    According to CDO, intensifier 'so' isn't marked for register (unlike 'ever so'). << So adverb (VERY) A2 very, extremely, or to such a degree: The house is so beautiful.>> – Edwin Ashworth Aug 15 '16 at 22:53
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    ... whereas RHK Webster's adds the usage note: The intensive so meaning “very or extremely” (Everything's so expensive these days) occurs chiefly in informal speech and is occasionally criticized in other contexts. In writing and formal speech, intensive so is most often followed by a completing that clause: Everything is so expensive that some families can barely afford necessities. [bolding mine] – Edwin Ashworth Aug 15 '16 at 23:01