‘Whatever’ tops most annoying word poll / LJWorld.com

Archive for Thursday, October 8, 2009

By Michael Hill - Associated Press Writer

October 8, 2009

So, you know, it is what it is, but Americans are totally annoyed by the use of “whatever” in conversations.

The popular slacker term of indifference was found “most annoying in conversation” by 47 percent of Americans surveyed in a Marist College poll released Wednesday.

“Whatever” easily beat out “you know,” which especially grated a quarter of respondents. The other annoying contenders were “anyway” (at 7 percent), “it is what it is” (11 percent) and “at the end of the day” (2 percent).

“Whatever” — pronounced “WHAT’-ehv-errr” when exasperated — is an expression with staying power. Immortalized in song by Nirvana (“oh well, whatever, nevermind”) in 1991, popularized by the Valley girls in “Clueless” later that decade, it is still commonly used, often by younger people.

It can be an all-purpose argument-ender or a signal of apathy. And it can really be annoying. The poll found “whatever” to be consistently disliked by Americans regardless of their race, gender, age, income or where they live.

“It doesn’t surprise me because ‘whatever’ is in a special class, probably,” said Michael Adams, author of “Slang: The People’s Poetry” and an associate professor of English at Indiana University. “It’s a word that — and it depends how a speaker uses it — can suggest dismissiveness.”

Adams, who was not involved in the poll and is not annoyed by “whatever,” points out that its use is not always negative. It also can be used in place of other, neutral phrases that have fallen out of favor, like “six of one, half dozen of the other,” he said.

Discussion

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8 October 2009
at 8:46 a.m.

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blindrabbit (Anonymous) says…

No argument with the listed words. But the worst for me is not a word but a phrase that is currently the darling of the sports media. Refering to all of the attributes a player has as their “body of work” is like scratching a chalkboard when I hear it used.
8 October 2009
at 8:52 a.m.

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honeychild (Mel Briscoe) says…

my mom hates the term “search engine” for some odd reason.

as for “whatever”, well i definitely use it but i don't over-use it and i don't draw out the last syllable. and i was using it way before mr. cobain wrote that song.
8 October 2009
at 8:58 a.m.

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blue73harley (Anonymous) says…

Replacing “whatever” as annoying = “it is what it is”. Followed closely by the the emphatic use of the “yes, yes”!
8 October 2009
at 9:01 a.m.

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jonas_opines (Anonymous) says…

“Immortalized in song by Nirvana (“oh well, whatever, nevermind”) in 1991.”

Are you kidding me?

It's hardly a slacker term, either, especially with the usage and pronunciation given. It's a bratz term. Slackers have already fallen asleep.
8 October 2009
at 9:02 a.m.

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salad (Anonymous) says…

“Whatever”….yet another reason to not like teenagers.
8 October 2009
at 9:14 a.m.

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corduroypants (Anonymous) says…

My head literally exploded when I read this. Literally.
8 October 2009
at 9:16 a.m.

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missmia (Anonymous) says…

kind of surprised that “like” didn't make the list - definitely over used. although i catch myself doing it like all the time…

8 October 2009
at 9:17 a.m.

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consumer1 (Anonymous) says…

What about my favorite, “DUDE”!!! or “Totally”.

Then from the mid sixeties is “Wow Man” that is some good S**t…
8 October 2009
at 9:20 a.m.

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TomShewmon (Tom Shewmon) says…

missmia, like totally! I like hear my kids like watching The Real World like on MTV and like, they say “like” like every other word. It like really gets annoying. Like, whatever.
8 October 2009
at 9:26 a.m.

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autie (Anonymous) says…

groovy man
8 October 2009
at 9:35 a.m.

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jonas_opines (Anonymous) says…

missmia: I feel you, but I fear that the actual usages of the word for normal people probably prevent its acceptance. What would be the option if we couldn't use “like”? Adore, appreciate, enamour, pine? I think any of them if used like that would just be next year's most annoying word.

Maybe what we need is a “like” quota. After you use it 50 times in one day, you start getting electric shocks or something.
8 October 2009
at 9:40 a.m.

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hillbilly_jim (Anonymous) says…

I totally agree with the whole “like” thing. Drives me crazy, but, whatever.

The word pair I can't stand: Brain Fart. I hate that term.
8 October 2009
at 9:52 a.m.

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blindrabbit (Anonymous) says…

I worked with a well educated young lady that used the phrase “you know” in an unconscious manner so often people would anticipate the next utterance. It was used throughout her speech. It was so annoying that what she was trying to say was lost on the audience.

Thankfully, someone must have made her aware of this, because we all noticed she consciously tried to avoid using it. (I know I should not use a preposition at the end of a sentence).
8 October 2009
at 9:57 a.m.

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blindrabbit (Anonymous) says…

Consumer: You are correct about “Dude”, but I would have guessed as a favorite of the X-Generation in the 80's or 90's. I could not figure if it was a friendly slang word or a mild put-down. But agree, it was hard on the ears.
8 October 2009
at 10:04 a.m.

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TomShewmon (Tom Shewmon) says…

“peace out” is rather annoying.

8 October 2009
at 10:11 a.m.

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consumer1 (Anonymous) says…

WaaaaaaaaSuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuupppppp
thankfully was short lived.
8 October 2009
at 10:23 a.m.

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somedude20 (Anonymous) says…

When people use the word “like” 3 or 4 times in one sentence…like that really like dums me out like totally
8 October 2009
at 10:25 a.m.

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JJE007 (Anonymous) says…

Oh my GAWwwwD! You have GOT to be KIDding! No WAY! That is SO…um…like…SOOO……….What!EVerrrrr…
HEY. I know… Like, from now on… We'll just say, like… THAT is S000000000, and wave our hands and shake our heads like we're too excited to THINK, you know? Okay?
awesome!
OMG, this is going to be S000000000000 cool! I am S00000000000 psyched about this!
Seriously…
OH. Check it out…
I am like S00000000……….

Jeez. I enjoyed writing that a little too much!~) Sick…
8 October 2009
at 10:26 a.m.

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Boosh (Anonymous) says…

“That's an excellent question”“that being said”“I think”“that being said” & “that's an excellent question” are overused.
8 October 2009
at 10:43 a.m.

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snap_pop_no_crackle (Anonymous) says…

One of my co-workers starts every third sentence with “that being said…”.
Some day I will bash him on the head with a chair, boil the flesh from his bones and make a flute from his shin. Then I'll play happy tunes all day.
It's a little dream I have.
8 October 2009
at 10:49 a.m.

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The_Original_Bob (Anonymous) says…

Like, far out, man.
8 October 2009
at 10:56 a.m.

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autie (Anonymous) says…

snap, I work with one that repeatedly use the phrase “and things of that nature”. So I always have to ask, “please tell me, what are the other things of that nature”. and who in the hell is “they”?

I was also glad that “tubular” fell out of favor.
8 October 2009
at 11:01 a.m.

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preebo (Anonymous) says…

Just so we're clear, the third and fourth runner ups are not words, but rather cliches, and I totally agree that they are completely annoying.

However, other notables would be:
Suffice (hurts my ears when it is uttered)
Absolutely (over-used)
…and my personal favorite [drum roll please]
Irregardless (not a word, but MS Word thinks so - Its either not regarding, hence the 'ir' or its without regard, enter 'less' - but it cannot be both. I believe the word I am looking for is… double-negative.?.?)

8 October 2009
at 11:11 a.m.

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jonas_opines (Anonymous) says…

Aw, c'mon Preebo. You talk as if double-negatives are in no way not dumb or something.

Admittedly, though, the triple negative is really the case of not something that nobody should never do.
8 October 2009
at 11:11 a.m.

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KansasVoter (Anonymous) says…

said Michael Adams, author of “Slang: The People’s Poetry” and an associate professor of English at Indiana University. “It’s a word that — and it depends how a speaker uses it — can suggest dismissiveness.”

It's a pretty powerful word in that way. It can become code for F-you.
8 October 2009
at 11:33 a.m.

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Calliope877 (Anonymous) says…

WHAT’-ehv-errrrrrr!!!!!!
:p
8 October 2009
at 11:42 a.m.

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GmaD321 (Anonymous) says…

OMG! Don't forget “my bad”. That p*$$@$ me off every time I hear it. “Whatever” used to make my hand go backwards across a teenagers face. They are not listening to you and they want you to know it.
8 October 2009
at 11:42 a.m.

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svenway_park (Anonymous) says…

Welcome back to the forum Cool/spiderman/jaguar/rusty2/ariadne/bronze/dried oregano and several others.

Now as Guy.

Maybe Kealing won't wait so long to kick you off this time, since you are a habitual violator of the Terms of Service.
8 October 2009
at 11:55 a.m.

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avoice (Anonymous) says…

This year's most tired phrase: “shovel ready”
8 October 2009
at 12:02 p.m.

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Mixolydian (Anonymous) says…

In order or annoyance:

1. Ilk
2. Dollop
3. Moist
4. Any harsh 4 letter swear word.
8 October 2009
at 12:10 p.m.

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BigPrune (Anonymous) says…

Whatever! The most annoying word is “ideal.” Like when people say, “I have a great ideal!” - instead of idea. You know what I mean? You know what I mean? - maybe the most irritating phrase for another poll.

8 October 2009
at 12:23 p.m.

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Finding_Uranus (Anonymous) says…

I used to work for a guy who always said “ramp up” or “ramping up” and it was irritating as it was used almost daily, if not several times a day.

Example: “Let's ramp up our productivity numbers”.
8 October 2009
at 12:29 p.m.

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iloveyoutoo (Anonymous) says…

I am sick of this “I know, right?”
8 October 2009
at 12:30 p.m.

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Boosh (Anonymous) says…

Moist? What's wrong with moist? I like moist, moisture, moisturizing, all thongs moist. Dollop I can see.
8 October 2009
at 12:50 p.m.

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Bassetlover (Anonymous) says…

“At the end of the day…..” Arrrrrgghhhhh!
8 October 2009
at 12:58 p.m.

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RETICENT_IRREVERENT (Anonymous) says…

copacetic…
8 October 2009
at 1 p.m.

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BigPrune (Anonymous) says…

more irritations………
Lock and load

or

6 of 1, half dozen of another
8 October 2009
at 1:03 p.m.

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BigPrune (Anonymous) says…

“It's always darkest before the dawn”…..
………When is that sun going to come up?
8 October 2009
at 1:17 p.m.

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RETICENT_IRREVERENT (Anonymous) says…

The word “spoon” gets my goat.

8 October 2009
at 1:21 p.m.

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blindrabbit (Anonymous) says…

Never did like Shrub Bush's new word “nucular” instead of the prefered “nuclear”. My guess, it did no matter to him, the “decider”. What about “ambalance”.
8 October 2009
at 2:02 p.m.

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autie (Anonymous) says…

yeah, and “thin little pancake eaters”. I could never figure, does that mean thin pancakes or the guy eating them? I guess I know the answer as I'm definitely not thin.
8 October 2009
at 2:18 p.m.

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puddleglum (Anonymous) says…

snap- we must work together….that is all I hear all day long, that and: “by the by” and “honestly….”
8 October 2009
at 2:21 p.m.

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puddleglum (Anonymous) says…

my other worker always says: “that woman is crazier than a 3-peckerd owl”

that's a good one
8 October 2009
at 2:39 p.m.

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barrypenders (Anonymous) says…

Stimulus

Stimulus is such a terrible word the progressive articulates want to add to their vernacular “safety net” instead of 'second stimulus'.

Free shelter, healthcare, and food (S.H.a F.)'t for the progressive people that can't get in the capitalistic system hasn't solved their demands yet.

Safety net lives

Darwin bless you all
8 October 2009
at 2:41 p.m.

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Boosh (Anonymous) says…

Typo, sorry should say “all things”
8 October 2009
at 2:46 p.m.

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concernedeudoravoter (Anonymous) says…

For me it has to be 're-doubled.' As in, we will have to re-double our efforts to get out of this situation. If we are re-doubling, doesn't that mean we have already doubled our efforts once before, so therefore we are now quadrupling are efforts……
8 October 2009
at 3:04 p.m.

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TomShewmon (Tom Shewmon) says…

“work smarter, not harder” is an all-time corporate classic.

What it means is………..”work harder and stop whining”.

I'll bet you superstars didn't know that, did you?

8 October 2009
at 4:05 p.m.

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bad_dog (Anonymous) says…

' “work smarter, not harder” is an all-time corporate classic.

What it means is………..”work harder and stop whining”.

I'll bet you superstars didn't know that, did you?'

If that statement doesn't make any sense to you, we now know why you stay on the farm where you alone can decide to work as hard and *not smart* as you want.

My company rewards its workers for innovation and creativity above and beyond their salaries, so working smarter has additional monetary rewards beyond the satisfaction of doing a good job and producing more with less effort.
8 October 2009
at 4:20 p.m.

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TomShewmon (Tom Shewmon) says…

bad dog, I'll bet you're one of those corporate robots who always carries a clipboard around to make yourself appear busy and important. I worked with some guys like that and they never lasted too long.
8 October 2009
at 4:46 p.m.

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bad_dog (Anonymous) says…

Nope, Tommy Boy, nobody I work with has even seen a clipboard in a couple of decades. I'm not concerned about looking important and have lasted almost 20 years in this organization. So much for yet another Shewmon theory.

I'm the one that would be telling you to quit surfing the internet and get back to work, AKA your manager. Looking busy and/or important are obviously things you can't be accused of. But that's OK, you apparently only have to please yourself and we all know how low that bar was set.
8 October 2009
at 5:21 p.m.

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TomShewmon (Tom Shewmon) says…

Again, a forum lefty illustrates he/she has no clue what I do, except blog on this award-winning forum. To frame it a different way, it would be a losing proposition for me to: get up at the crack of dawn, put on a corporate costume (hate ties), fight traffic, work in a cubicle, pay for lunch, put up with a&&holes, sit in painfully boring meetings, get home ten hours later, be miserable and accept a mediocre paycheck. No thanks. And one thing I'm not good at is kissing butt, maybe you have to, but I don't. (You attacked me first).
8 October 2009
at 5:29 p.m.

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autie (Anonymous) says…

Aren't you a housewife now? Or a domestic engineer? That could be a good gig.
8 October 2009
at 5:36 p.m.

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tangential_reasoners_anonymous (Anonymous) says…

floccinaucinihilipilification
8 October 2009
at 7:25 p.m.

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Multidisciplinary (Anonymous) says…

I'm glad I didn't get to this until now and got to read all the comments at once. Snowball giggle effect.

ilk.. I love ilk.
Remember, was it Comedy Relief, one of the very first ones? Years ago.
When Billy Crystal used the word ilk, and Robin Williams interrupted him and went off on it? Priceless. I can't hear the word now without an inner smile.
Thanks Robin. Ilk is now lovely.

I plead innocent yet guilty by association. Having lived with a teenage daughter and having many college caregivers, and a few other teenagers around..and these being the main daily verbal communications in my life for several years…

it's clear. It rubbed of. I don't say the whatever using the tones or meaning they say…but I do use it in the sense of 'not totally clear, move along folks, fine, sure, it happens, what can you do, yada, etc'…a general term catch all phrase to indicate a lot more could be said, but why continue?. No offense in it at all.

It's like,my bad and some others.
Oh yeah, that's me. Now for a while, I'll be nervous as I type.

oh, and 'lol'.

While I'm glad it's out there, I just wish my spell check didn't reject it.
8 October 2009
at 8:38 p.m.

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justanothertroll (Anonymous) says…

Far out kind of gets under my skin after a while.

8 October 2009
at 9:30 p.m.

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fastwalker (Anonymous) says…

such a total waste of time, but:

lie-berry “library”
warsh
you seen um?
you ate yet?

i don't disapprove of a person's use of crap language, go ahead and say what you will. it's just silly is all.
8 October 2009
at 10 p.m.

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blue73harley (Anonymous) says…

Bad Dog sez -“My company rewards its workers for innovation and creativity above and beyond their salaries, so working smarter has additional monetary rewards beyond the satisfaction of doing a good job and producing more with less effort.”

That's great. But I would almost bet you do not work in a manufacturing environment.

I am as cynical as Tommy when it come to jobs in the manufacturing arena.

Someone recently forwarded an article from a Malaysian newspaper boasting about how my US corporation now has over 5,000 jobs in their brand new facility.

These are high tech jobs. These are jobs my friends and coworkers no longer have.

Yes, I am cynical.

Yes, I am bitter.

Corporate slogans are meaningless pieces of crap.
8 October 2009
at 10:50 p.m.

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bad_dog (Anonymous) says…

“To frame it a different way, it would be a losing proposition for me to: get up at the crack of dawn, put on a corporate costume (hate ties), fight traffic, work in a cubicle, pay for lunch, put up with a&&holes, sit in painfully boring meetings, get home ten hours later, be miserable and accept a mediocre paycheck. No thanks. And one thing I'm not good at is kissing butt, maybe you have to, but I don't.”

Sorry you have such little understanding of my situation Tommy. Ever heard of teleworking? It eliminates most of the concerns you mention. I go to the office pretty much if/when I choose. No suits or ties and jeans at least two days per week if I do go in. There's nothing miserable about my paycheck, pension, 401K or other benefits, either. No need to kiss butt because we all like and respect one another. Working with really good dedicated employees that enjoy their jobs and do them well pretty much eliminates the balance of your concerns, but thanks for thinking of me. I'm very fortunate in most respects and I thank God, my family and country for that.

“Corporate slogans are meaningless pieces of crap”

While I agree in large part, it all depends upon the corporation, Blue.
9 October 2009
at 3:34 a.m.

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jkanderson (Anonymous) says…

“From Wallstreet to Mainstreet” got pretty old last year, but the word I have absolutely grown to hate is “folks”.

Do it for the folks. It is about the folks. Plain folk. Country folk. Young folk. Old folk.

When a politician addresses “the folks” he/she is really thinking, “You bunch of toothless commoners who believe everything I say, donate your pennies to my campaign, and continue to vote for me. What a bunch of rustic, unsophistcated idiots! You crude, primitive simpletons!”
9 October 2009
at 4:59 a.m.

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barrypenders (Anonymous) says…

The word 'Nobel' is annoying.

I the Poser can win it as a President for 2 weeks, why can't Oprah? She is all that and then sum.

Darwin bless you all
9 October 2009
at 8:01 a.m.

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puddleglum (Anonymous) says…

barry, you should stop drinking at 2am
9 October 2009
at 12:46 p.m.

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Boosh (Anonymous) says…

“moonbat”
10 October 2009
at 9:36 a.m.

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Boosh (Anonymous) says…

I'm not calling anyone that. I think It's an overused word :)