Would you like to give someone a positive progress report, or say a good word about how something is going to everyone else? The phrase 'so far so good' can be used to indicate good progress, and it's a common phrase that's often used as a whole. This post unpacks the meaning and origin of this expression.<\/p>\n
The phrase 'so far so good' <\/strong>can be used to tell someone that so far a project is going well, or so far progress is good.<\/u><\/p>\n The phrase is used as an indicative phrase or statement<\/u> directed at the rest of the conversation.<\/p>\n Usually the phrase 'so far so good' <\/strong>is used as a response to someone else asking for a progress report about something.<\/u> The context is usually clear from the rest of what's being said.<\/p>\n If something is 'so far so good' <\/strong>then it is assumed that everything is going well. <\/u><\/p>\n As a rare use of the phrase, someone can also use the term 'so far so good' <\/strong>as a sarcastic phrase that indicates that things are not going well.<\/p>\n The sarcastic or serious context of what's being said can usually be determined from the rest of the sentence.<\/p>\n The phrase 'so far so good' <\/strong>is common as a response, but it can also be said without any prior context or question from anyone else in the conversation if the issue is apparent.<\/u><\/p>\n Punctuation of the phrase can include 'so far, so good' <\/strong>or without commas, both usages are considered valid.<\/p>\n \u201cI just enrolled to university and I think I'll get in. At least I managed to send the email, and I'm sure I didn't make any serious mistakes. So far so good.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf you didn't get into university this time, then I would just apply to another one. I've found a list of five others here, and it's so far so good.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf things are so far so good, how come you didn't plug in the computer before you told me you sent the email?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThings are so far so good, we've already managed to catch three boots. I'm sure that a bicycle or a fish is going to come up out of this river next.\u201d<\/p>\n The origin of the phrase 'so far so good' was first apparent in the 1700s, when the phrase was collected in James Kelly's Scottish Proverbs.<\/p>\n The collection of proverbs included several hundred ones that were absorbed into the popular speech of the times, and most of them became ever-popular well into the modern age.<\/p>\n 'So far so good' has been absorbed into popular culture, and references can be found in movies, books, articles and often on social media.<\/p>\n The phrase 'so far so good' can be used in the wrong way or understood in the wrong context.<\/p>\n The meaning of the saying can be serious or joking, but the meaning is assumed to be understood by the rest of the conversation by the speaker.<\/p>\n The phrase has its origin in Scottish English, where it might not translate well directly to other languages or not have a common equivalent.<\/p>\n The correct way to use the phrase 'so far so good' is to use it to indicate the progress of something as positive.<\/p>\n It is common to use the phrase 'so far so good' when someone has asked a question, but the term can also be used in the absence of anyone having asked.<\/p>\n The phrase can be used as serious or sarcastic, but the context is usually made clear by the rest of what's being said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Would you like to give someone a positive progress report, or say a good word about how something is going to everyone else? The phrase 'so far so good' can be used to indicate good progress, and it's a common phrase that's often used as a whole. This post unpacks the meaning and origin of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9750"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9750"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9750\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9752,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9750\/revisions\/9752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Example Usage<\/h2>\n
Origin<\/h2>\n
Phrases Similar to So Far So Good<\/h2>\n
\n
Phrases Opposite to So Far So Good<\/h2>\n
\n
What is the Correct Saying?<\/h2>\n
\n
Ways People May Say So Far So Good Incorrectly<\/h2>\n
Acceptable Ways to Phrase So Far So Good<\/h2>\n