Forum: ell.stackexchange.com
Tags: <phrase-usage>
Title: Can we use the phrase "so-called" in its positive sense (or neutral) when refereeing to a widely adopted thing?
Question: Let's consider the context below:   we have an "old technique" which is widely adopted by several researchers. now, you propose a new one.   you might say:    We propose a new technique under which fault analysis becomes more tractable than the  so called  "old technique".   My question is that weather or not I can use "so-called" in such a context. I was thinking to "widely accepted" or "broadly adopted" though. However, this question struck my mind.

Answers:
sents: text: To me so-called means it is contested.
text: (His so-called wife is really a paid escort.)
text: It can be used to express one's opinion that a name or term is inappropriate.
text: It doesn't always mean a negative, but your audience would need to know your context to understand it.
text: So if you want to be certain that your comment is not seen as a negative one, use your other phrases instead.
text: Both "widely accepted" or "broadly adopted" work.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/46196/WRX
score: 20
sents: text: No, I don't think so called would be interpreted in a neutral or positive manner.
text: The very purpose of those words is to show disagreement with, or express the irony of, a phrase.
text: If you don't want to do either, just leave it out.
text: We propose a new technique under which fault analysis becomes more tractable than pre-existing techniques.
text: If you wanted to add widely accepted to that sentence, prior to "pre-existing", you could.
text: Not knowing the topic, I cannot say that any such modifier would actually add anything useful, though.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/46961/RichF
score: 13
sents: text: First, you would not put the phase old technique in quotation marks.
text: The rule is you can say so-called , or you can use quotation marks to indicate so-called, but you don't use both.
text: As one Grammar page says: Use quotation marks to denote so-called or to show that a word is not being used in its literal sense.
text: Do not use the words so-called AND use quotation marks –
text: that is tautology.
text: [emphasis added] Second, you would only use so-called if there was something about the phrase old technique that was not literally true.
text: So, if one technique was developed two years ago and the other just two weeks ago, you could argue that the word "old" is misleading, because the technique is still relatively new.
text: However, I'd say that in one of these two ways: We propose a new technique under which fault analysis becomes more tractable than the so-called old technique.
text: or (and I like this one even better):
text: We propose a new technique under which fault analysis becomes more tractable than the "old" technique.
text: Here, old is put in quotation marks to warn the reader that the technique is not really all that old; it's more like comparatively old.
text: If that's not what you're trying to say, though, then widely accepted may be better.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/113/J.R.
score: 8
sents: text: No. 'so-called' has negative connotations.
text: The implication is that the item you are referring to is not actually the thing that it is called.
text: E.g. you give someone a present and then, after an argument, demand it back : "Here!
text: Take your so-called gift!"
text: "My so-called boyfriend cheated on me."
text: "
text: After she gave me the money, she later said that I owed her.
text: So much for her so-called generosity!".
text: Edit:
text: Actually, 'negative' may be too stronga word
text: e.g. : "Remember Martha, my so-called enemy at work?
text: She spoke up for me today!"
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/19309/Steve Ives
score: 3
sents: text: I like soi-disant , but it only applies to entities (like people and companies)
text: that call themselves something.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/478/Malvolio
score: 1

Summary of the answers:
"So-called" can be used to express one's opinion that a name or term is inappropriate. It doesn't always mean a negative, but your audience would need to know your context to understand it.  However, when using "so-called" there is often a notion of ironic, questioning or negative connotations.
It would be best not to use "so-called" in this case, because it expresses an opinion about a contested term or name, about something that is not actually what it claims to be. While it is not always negative, it has negative connotations so the other expressions are preferable.