Whatever....

[LanaBear]

Any body else? I am very very guilty of saying that word. I get the evil eye from hubby pretty much every time it falls out of my mouth. I try not to say it, but sometimes it just falls out.


'Whatever' so totally tops most annoying word poll
AP

By MICHAEL HILL, Associated Press Writer Michael Hill, Associated Press Writer – Wed Oct 7, 3:25 pm ET

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.

But the negative connotation might explain why "whatever" was judged more annoying than the ever-popular "you know," which was recently given a public workout by Caroline Kennedy during her flirtation with the New York U.S. Senate seat vacated by Hillary Rodham Clinton. "You know," Adams notes, is a way for speakers to seek assent from others.

Pollsters at the Poughkeepsie, N.Y. college surveyed 938 U.S. adults by telephone Aug. 3-Aug 6. The margin of error is 3.2 percentage points. The five choices included were chosen by people at the poll discussing what popular words and phrases might be considered especially annoying, said spokeswoman Mary Azzoli.

[Kallygirlie]

Yes and my man gets sooooooooooooo annoyed. If is say something i know he's not gonna like I'll throw int he "its whatever". I've been told many times that he's gonna remove that word from my tongue. Oh well.........its whatever :P

[GlitterAndStuds]

I'm pretty sure we have Clueless to thank for this! haha.

I use it all the time, maybe less now than I used to though. Especially the "it's whatever" hahaha, that's awesome that someone else uses that just as much. I don't think it annoys anyone. More so, it lets other people know that I'M the one who's annoyed.

I said it a lot to my last roommate (I'll just affectionately refer to her as Psycho Hose Beast or PHB from here on out) after dealing with her complaining all the time. Once I got to the point of just saying "whatever" that's my way of saying "I don't want to talk about this, it's only gonna make me mad".

[LanaBear]

(I'll just affectionately refer to her as Psycho Hose Beast or PHB from here on out)

Oh crp - that is SO funny! I love it, PHB, I'll have to work that into my vocabulary.

Once I got to the point of just saying "whatever" that's my way of saying "I don't want to talk about this, it's only gonna make me mad".

That's pretty much my use for it, I thought it was a politer way of saying Shut Up.

[GlitterAndStuds]

HAHA spread that! I'm gonna coin it and start a trend!

It's so much worse when I do it in person because I tend to do that little hand wave along with the it. Kind of like that "shoo" motion. That must annoy people...especially when I do it wordlessly! haha

[ThexMrs]

Guilty as charged... In fact, I use "whatever, anyways and you know." I always use it when upset and want to end a conversation. Sometimes I do it just out of habit. I remember when I was about 12 years old I used to say, "man" after every sentence and my best friend's mother commented on it and that stopped me right there. I quit saying it.

My good friend gets mad when I say "whatever." He will mock me or say that I'm doing it on purpose but really I just want a way out of what we are talking about.

Heck, you've seen me use it on this forum along with "you know."

[CHANDLERS WISH]

"It is what it is"
"Whatever"
"Huh"
"I'm thinking"

It's all slang to me, it means in Austraila:

"What will be will be"
"Ahha"
"Pardon?"
"I was thinking"...

Now bottom line? You lot learn Australian hahahaha, we speak it with more clarity...

"running now".............................................. ..............................................

CW

[caterpillar79]

"It is what it is"
"Whatever"
"Huh"
"I'm thinking"

It's all slang to me, it means in Austraila:

"What will be will be"
"Ahha"
"Pardon?"
"I was thinking"...

Now bottom line? You lot learn Australian hahahaha, we speak it with more clarity...

"running now".............................................. ..............................................

CW

You forgot : Oi

[Isabellacat]

Like totally! lol Yes I'm annoyed by that word too,but I also find myself using it alot without realizing sometimes. I've been teased just because and some people say I do have a vally girl voice sometimes. I guess I can't help it,I am from California lol. I think another word that people may find annoying is "Hella".

[CHANDLERS WISH]

You forgot : Oi

lol, na, we say that too and it's perfectly okay with me, mmm although we say "Hey", lol.