Strollerderby

The Most Annoying Word

Posted by sandymaple on October 9th, 2009 at 1:27 pm

teen whatever sm250 The Most Annoying WordA recent Marist Poll reveals that there is one word in the English language that annoys almost half of all Americans.  We hear it a lot and, not surprisingly, most often from our kids.  The word is frequently delivered with an eye roll and is the source of much parental exasperation.  Think you know what it is?

Whatever.

According to the poll,  those three little syllables rank at the very top of  words or phrases Americans find most annoying. I am guessing many of those polled were parents of teens.  “Whatever” is a word that was never intended to stand alone but somehow has evolved into a dismissive catch-all that says “I really couldn’t care less about what you are talking about and have no interest in continuing to converse with you.”  Or, you know, something like that.

Which brings us to the second most annoying phrase in the English language:  “you know.”  This one is abused by adults and kids alike and is so pervasive that many of us are unaware that we are constantly inserting into conversational pauses.  Which is probably why it is so annoying.

Coming in a distant third and fourth on the annoying list are “it is what it is” and “anyway.”

I agree that all those words and phrases are annoying, but my personal pet peeve is “awesome.”  That’s a word that gets way too much play and is almost never appropriate.  But somehow, it didn’t even merit a mention on the list of most annoying words or phrases.  Whatever.

 The Most Annoying Word

Go Back To Strollerderby

10 Comments

Comments In my opinion this was an awesome post but others might not agree.

Whatever.

;)

feefifoto commented on Oct 09 09 at 1:46 pm

When my husband and I went on a cruise for our honeymoon there was a video talking about the features of the ship, including a staircase that the architect described as “a little awesome”. I thought that that was a little awesome on its own.

Andrea commented on Oct 09 09 at 2:59 pm

my pet peeve…”and whatnot”. What the heck is a whatnot? It doesn’t even mean anything.

g8grl commented on Oct 09 09 at 3:04 pm

Can’t stand “chillaxin”

LogicalMama commented on Oct 09 09 at 3:29 pm

My 6yr old son uses “whatever” AND knows what it means. He gets a little bit more teen-ish every day from the stuff he picks up at school. He loves the word AWESOME, everything is awesome to him, and sometimes they are awesome and cool at the same time :)
Yeah, i think whatever is a clear winner.

Rica commented on Oct 09 09 at 3:59 pm

Another brillent saying is “you think” it gives me much joy to here my teen say this.

nick commented on Oct 10 09 at 1:20 am

Don’t forget the phrase “right” usually at the end of a sentence of phrase

wait commented on Oct 10 09 at 1:33 am

Ugh….’mybad’…i hate that one

Momma commented on Oct 10 09 at 12:09 pm

the word “LIKE” is the worst one. No kid seems able to say one sentence without including “LIKE” in it. ANNOYING ??? You Bet it is !

Liz Frazer commented on Sep 06 11 at 2:39 pm

i have four boys, 3 are older the other is now 2. they have different fathers from the 2 yr old. the older three we not allowed to say whatever. it was considered equal to F you. As that was their father’s rule, my 2yr old will most surely annoy me with it when he is older. Right now, the most annoying word he says is , HUH

barbi commented on Jan 23 12 at 9:41 am

Add your take:

Note: Babble is a supportive, diverse community. We encourage a range of opinions,
but any unduly hostile comments will be removed.


Comments are delayed up to 15 minutes

Most Popular on Facebook

Best of Babble.com


  • Joslyn Gray
  • Amber Doty
  • Julianna Miner
  • Monica Bielanko
  • Sierra Black
  • Meredith Carroll
  • Carolyn Castiglia
  • Sunny Chanel
  • Madeline Holler
  • Wendy Michaels
  • Rebecca Odes
  • Danielle Smith
  • Danielle Sullivan
  • Katherine Stone
  • Disney Online Moms & Family Portfolio

    The Walt Disney Company supports Babble as a platform dedicated to honest, engaged, informed, intelligent and open conversation about parenting. However, the opinions expressed on this site are those of individual parents/writers and do not reflect the views of Disney. In addition, content provided on this site is for entertainment or informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, or safety advice. Click here for additional information. Privacy Policy | Terms of Service

    More in Strollerderby (50 of 10517 articles)