NEW YORK (Reuters) - Do you want to kill a conversation? Try saying "whatever."
Words like "you know" and "like" might be irritating to hear, but for the third year in a row, it's "whatever" that holds the most power to annoy, according to an annual survey by the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion.
Nearly four in ten adults named "whatever" as the most annoying verbal filler in casual conversation, while one in five adults had similar disdain for "like" and 'you know."
"Just sayin'" and "seriously" were more forgiving to the ears, though still quite irritating, Marist found.
The telephone survey of 1,026 adults nationally had a margin of error of three percentage points.
(Reporting by Edith Honan; editing by Patricia Reaney)
I think the reason people find it so annoying is because it indicates a lack of interest in the conversation, and expressing disinterest in such a flippant way can be construed as being very impolite and disrespectful, whereas "like" and "y'know" are just verbal tics (I end most of my sentences with "y'know?" and most of the time I don't even realise I'm doing it). So I don't think the issue is the word itself, so much as the implication behind it.
Personally, I can't think of a more infuriating word than "chillax."
I don't like the word "whatever" if it is used to deliberately annoy someone. As for the most annoying word, I don't know, "I can't be bothered" (as a sentence, not a word) irritates me a lot more because a) my dad says it all the time and b) it isn't an adequate excuse! We all have to do things we cannot be 'bothered' doing!
I use the word "like" a lot... I guess that some people find it annoying but it's more that it fits in every sentence that I say. Words like "okay?" at the end of a sentence are used similarly.
Asking questions like "did you really?" in response to something is annoying because the answer is obvious. Why would someone say they'd done something if they hadn't done it. You don't need to question that. It's like "I'm not feeling great" and someone saying "aren't you?". Well, no, that's fairly apparent!
It's an incredibly rude word. It's like saying, "Oh. Well. I don't give two s**ts what you think, so you can just kiss my ass."... or "You know? I' above this stupid conversation. It's really very boring and I feel you should know it, too. *eyeroll*" (it IS often followed with an eye roll.)... or many other rude ways of expressing lack of interest.
Agree!
Stop thinking about what I want, what he wants, what your parents want. What do you want?
Asking questions like "did you really?" in response to something is annoying because the answer is obvious. Why would someone say they'd done something if they hadn't done it. You don't need to question that. It's like "I'm not feeling great" and someone saying "aren't you?". Well, no, that's fairly apparent!
I do that :/ for some reason I don't always know how else to respond. In my head it sounds enthusiastic and engaged - but, thinking about it it sounds rude and disbelieving.
I use the word 'like' a fair amount, but I don't believe I use it excessively. I heard some teenage girls talking on the train t'other day and one used the word 'like' four times in one sentence.
Someone responding to me with "whatever" in order to show how little they care is likely to elicit a very unpleasant response from me like, "I wonder why no one has killed you yet."
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xz7_3n7xyDg"]Liam Lynch: United States of Whatever - YouTube[/ame]
Some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money.
They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with.
Some men just want to watch the world burn.
I hate whatever, such a rude response, it makes you feel so small. It bugs me hearing people say "like" million times when I'm on the bus or train. I want to yell that there are other words and it's not needed, but then there are probably words I use too often that bugs other people.
And secondly, yes, really, otherwise I wouldn't be saying whatever I just said to you! Arghhhhhhhhh.
I don't understand why people get annoyed by this. Sometimes people exaggerate and the other person will want to clarify whether or not something has really happened. Just because you say something doesn't necessarily mean it's true. You could be exaggerating, you could me mistaken or you could be plain wrong.
I don't know about people saying it in real life, but online if you say "real" instead of "really" then it's usually like saying "Are you fcking serious?". Like if someone does/ says something stupid you say "Wow. Real?" It's more insulting than "really?" which is more out of genuine curiosity.
As per real life, people that use internet slang IRL are dumb. It's like saying "lol" in real life. You just look retarded.
Nous avons abrité tous les rêves du monde,
Et c'est dans le soleil que nous avons grandi.
I thought it was 'for real?' that people say. Never heard just 'real' by itself. Though I think saying 'really?' can just be comments people make during taking in what someone has said. Rhetorical rather than actually trying to verify whether someone really meant what they said.
Stop thinking about what I want, what he wants, what your parents want. What do you want?
Saying something like "Oh, really?" is ok if it's in the sense like oh wow really did that actually happen etc. Saying something like (teacher) "we have an exam tomorrow" (student) "Real?????!!!!!" annoys me.
Even as the stone of the fruit must break
that its heart may stand in the sun,
so must you know pain.
There are only two ways in which one can live their life. One is as though nothing is a miracle, the other is as though everything is.
