For all of you who cringe every time someone dismissively (and usually with a fat ‘tude) throws out the word “whatever,” you’re not alone.
A recent poll conducted by Marist College found that “whatever” is one of the words or phrases that Americans find to be most annoying.
According to a New York Daily News story, poll organizers at the Poughkeepsie, NY university called up 938 adults and ran five phrases by them: “whatever,” “you know,” “anyway,” “it is what it is,” and “at the end of the day.” Callers then asked folks which of the phrases they found to be the most annoying. The results: 47 percent voted for “whatever,” about a quarter for “you know,” 11 percent for “it is what it is,” seven percent for “anyway” and two percent for “at the end of the day.”
The five phrases included in the poll were selected by poll organizers. And while we agree they’re pretty irksome, we could definitely suggest a couple others, namely “like” and “literally.” (As in, “Like, literally everyone uses those two words!”).
What do you think are the most annoying phrases in the English language?
Photo courtesy of stock.xchng.