how so
19
5.1
- idiom
:
¿En qué sentido?
- He claimed that the project was a failure. How so?
- How so?" asked
- How so?" she said
Just you know how scary, scary movies are when you're a little kid, like how so?
- Just you know how scary, scary movies are when you're a little kid, like how so?
Examples
-
I think I heard you say a second ago, the people are demanding it, how so?
Blog text (28) -
A woman said she heard a strange noise in the attic. How so?
-
We'll know for sure tomorrow. "How so?"
Fiction book (1992) -
"How so?" Clauzon took a sip of wine.
Fiction book (2001) -
The difference was so extreme, and my own judgment was so strong in the other direction, that I queried: "How so?"
Academic text (1991) -
"And how so?"
Fiction book (1990) -
"I'm calling because there's been a murder here that I think could have bearing on the Singletary case." "How so?"
Fiction book (1990) -
How so?" Researchers coded responses by whether or not the respondents provided a reasonable justification for their answer.
Academic text (2014) -
I was surprised to hear the news. How so?
Synonyms
∞
1.0
Used in a question to ask for information about something
∞
1.0
The degree or amount of something
A spoken word people say to start talking, ask for more information, or show doubt
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'used to ask in what way or for what reason' is directly derivable from combining 'how' (in what way) with 'so' (in that way); it literally asks 'in what way is that so?'. This is a compositional, cross-linguistically common pattern and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituent words.
Etymology
How so may come from the simple idea behind the words how, meaning 'in what way', and so, meaning 'like that'. It is like pointing at what someone said and asking 'how is that?', so today people use how so to ask someone to explain or show why something is true.