“You know,” “whatever” is a really annoying term — “like” “you know.” We’re “just sayin’.” When it comes to the most annoying words or phrases used in conversation, those four top the list in 2012, according to the annual Marist Poll. “Whatever” headed the list, cited by 32 percent of adults, and next came “like,” which 21 percent didn’t like.
Runners-up included “Twitterverse” and “gotcha’.” The results mirrored last year’s survey when “whatever” topped the annoying words list for a third straight year. But “seriously,” named by 7 percent last year, dropped off the list entirely – really.
Marist questioned 1,246 adults in a U.S. nationwide, telephone survey.
Results showed differences by age and regions, with people younger than 45 or in the Northeast especially annoyed by “like,” while “you know” offended more of the 45-and-over set.
Men and women gave similar responses overall, but whites were twice as likely as non-whites to find “you know” irritating. And people under 45 were more than twice as likely as those over 45 to be put off by “just sayin.’”
It’s been noticed in Nigeria how often young people use the phrases, especially “whatever”. While some Nigerians may not find any of these phrases offensive, others can’t bear to even hear it used.
The question here is how did we come about these phrases, and how have they been affecting communication? [Reuters]
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