Poll finds most annoying word — ‘whatever’Easily beats out strong contenders such as ‘you know’ and

anyway. (my disfavorite is "like")

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.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33223279/ns/us_news-life/?GT1=43001

I hate that word with a passion.

It doesn't sound any more "powerful" than 'use'. It just makes the person using it sound like a tool.

is dismissive and that's why it's so grating.

and, as usual, failing miserably, "whatever" is the perfect retort to get out of it and walk away :P

I know that the phrase originated with outlaw bikers,
but I like to think that Marcus Aurelius would have approved of the sentiment.