thursday 1 Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 Quote: 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. You know what I think? Click to reveal.. whatever Link to post Share on other sites
gerard 6 Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 The word "precious" kind of bugs me. Link to post Share on other sites
BagOfCrisps 24 Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 Peeps and dude. Link to post Share on other sites
gareth_oau 2 Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 "Like" and "you know". When used in a sentence along the lines of: "it like you know, like well you know like..." Link to post Share on other sites
foreversnow 5 Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 "Yeah but" and "Darl" especially LOVE that one!! Link to post Share on other sites
snowboarder 0 Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 When people say something like they are working 200% / 1000% or anything over 100. It is just stupid and annoying. That's all. Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 Originally Posted By: BagOfCrisps Peeps and dude. sorry dude but I like to use Peeps!! How are all the peeps and dudes doing tonight??!! Link to post Share on other sites
seemore 66 Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 Yeah Nah A positive and a negative in the same breath??????? And Buddy or Mate when some one has just met you. Seemore Link to post Share on other sites
Jynxx 4 Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 Yes mate. Link to post Share on other sites
Jynxx 4 Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 What would you like love ? Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 When someone shrinks my name to the commonly used nickname version of the name when they don't even know me! Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted October 9, 2009 Author Share Posted October 9, 2009 "innit" that really makes me want to smack some one. Innit. Link to post Share on other sites
gerard 6 Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 Originally Posted By: muikabochi When someone shrinks my name to the commonly used nickname version of the name when they don't even know me! Hmm... What's the commonly used nickname? I wouldn't like 'Dick' much. Link to post Share on other sites
gareth_oau 2 Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 Originally Posted By: muikabochi When someone shrinks my name to the commonly used nickname version of the name when they don't even know me! My name is Gareth. someone once asked me "is it ok if I call you Gary?" I said "yes, but you can assume i will ignore you" Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted October 9, 2009 Author Share Posted October 9, 2009 Could be worse, they could've called you Garth Link to post Share on other sites
gareth_oau 2 Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 dont i need a big cowboy hat for that? Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted October 9, 2009 Author Share Posted October 9, 2009 your tight jeans would be plenty Link to post Share on other sites
BagOfCrisps 24 Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 haro is quite annoying if pronounced incorrectly Link to post Share on other sites
indosnm 0 Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 Originally Posted By: BagOfCrisps Peeps and dude. Peeps! Finally a person who agrees with me!! I hate that F$%&'(ing word! Link to post Share on other sites
HelperElfMissy 42 Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 Aren't Peeps those little marshmallow chicks that come out at Easter? Somehow I just could never reconcile calling my friends 'peeps' - when to me that is saying that are sickly sweet, sugar coated squishy things full of artificial stuff. [well in hindsight - some of them may well be PEEPS! ] Link to post Share on other sites
foreversnow 5 Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 OH YUMMY - I thought you could only get Peeps in the US!!! Maybe we could deep fry them as well. Hey what about SHEILA and SCHMICK now there's a couple of really special ones!! Link to post Share on other sites
indosnm 0 Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 Sheila? Tough Titties! Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted October 10, 2009 Author Share Posted October 10, 2009 right on, Bruce Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 yo peeps, throw another shrimp on the barbie!! cheers dude Link to post Share on other sites
indosnm 0 Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 It's Prawns mate, and if ya said peeps at my barbie ya'd have 2 black eyes! Link to post Share on other sites
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