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America’s Most Annoying Phrase

By Miss Cellania in Everything Else on Oct 9, 2009 at 9:44 am


A recent poll asked Americans what the most annoying phrase they’ve heard is, and 47% of respondents answered “whatever”. It is believed that this is the actual phrase they found annoying, and not just a dismissive response to the question.

Other candidates for most irritating phrases: “you know” netted 25 percent of the vote; “it is what it is” got 11 percent; “anyway” got 7 percent; and “at the end of the day” ended the day with 2 percent.

Some geographic tendencies also emerged. “Whatever,” for example, is more loathed in the Midwest – where it annoys 55 percent of respondents – than it is in the Northeast, where it bothers 35 percent.

Link -via Simply Left Behind

(image credit: Flickr user Shiny Things)


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COMMENT
  1. Cluck
    Oct 9th, 2009 at 10:07 am

    I would like to add "Unrepresented" to that list.

  2. Gauldar
    Oct 9th, 2009 at 10:21 am

    When arguing with my mother, at the end of debating an issue she always ends it with "Well...", as if she had a responce to my argument that proved her right.

  3. glen
    Oct 9th, 2009 at 11:16 am

    Whatever.

  4. Mindy
    Oct 9th, 2009 at 11:17 am

    How about "lookit".... it's NOT a word. I get angry enough when kids use it (I'm a mom of two boys.. and they know never to use that phrase).. but it pisses me off to no end when ADULTS use it when talking to their kids. Anytime I hear it come out of a parents mouth.. I want to go over to whoever has said it, smack them upside their ignorant heads and thank them for teaching their child how to sound as as dumb as they do.

  5. Mr Joe
    Oct 9th, 2009 at 11:46 am

    Really? Really?

  6. Kacie
    Oct 9th, 2009 at 12:23 pm

    How can we forget "My Bad." UGH!

  7. gryt
    Oct 9th, 2009 at 12:49 pm

    Yeah, I think "my bad" may be THE most annoying phrase in the English language. HATE.

  8. Tash
    Oct 9th, 2009 at 12:54 pm

    Gauldar, my mom does the same thing! She also sticks "and here" in her sentences and she doesn't need to! Example, "I was walking through the store and here I found this blah blah blah..." And here this, and here that. Ugh! It doesn't seem bad in this one sentence, but trying having a conversation and hearing that in every other sentence.

  9. zavatone
    Oct 9th, 2009 at 12:57 pm

    "Whatever" and "Talk to the hand" get my vote. If you're going to be that rude, an equally rude or moreso response is expected. "My bad" also sucks. It's just lazy form.

  10. zavatone
    Oct 9th, 2009 at 12:59 pm

    Oh, how could I forget "misremembered" and "newquelur".

  11. zavatone
    Oct 9th, 2009 at 12:59 pm

    Oh man, "on steroids." This is like a normal sentence but on steroids!

    Argh. Overused.

  12. Don Less
    Oct 9th, 2009 at 3:27 pm

    "You go with that" is my wife's (not mine)favorite retort.

  13. Reechard
    Oct 9th, 2009 at 3:50 pm

    So I was like, reading this article and I'm like yeah, whatever.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xz7_3n7xyDg

  14. Dr. Lao
    Oct 9th, 2009 at 6:02 pm

    While not a phrase, "awsome" has sicken me for many years.

  15. Lynne
    Oct 9th, 2009 at 6:04 pm

    The annoying phrase currently popular in my office is reach out...used instead of call, e-mail or otherwise contact.

  16. Christophe
    Oct 9th, 2009 at 10:50 pm

    The way some people say it is also annoying :
    what... eveeeer!

  17. PacRim Jim
    Oct 9th, 2009 at 11:19 pm

    "hope and change" gets my vote. Inane.

  18. Sue Dunham
    Oct 10th, 2009 at 7:50 am

    I clicked the link, but it was another news site too cheap to pay for enough bandwidth to open in less than 30 seconds. Bye, bye.

  19. Ant Dude
    Oct 10th, 2009 at 2:44 pm

    Whatever, dudes!

  20. Raine
    Oct 10th, 2009 at 9:18 pm

    Whatever is totally not annoying... but im in boston - we are clearly more tolerant than the midwest

  21. Wes
    Oct 10th, 2009 at 11:22 pm

    My friend, who teaches middle school, cannot convince many of his kids that "fidna" is not a word.

    "I'm fidna leave." "I'm fidna go get some lunch."

    He asks, "You mean you're 'fixing to'?"

    "No," they respond, "fidna!"

    They even write it that way. True story.

  22. RyanP
    Oct 11th, 2009 at 4:54 am

    "(He|She) tells is like it is"

    That one always grates me when I hear it.

    @Wes
    How is 'fidna' even pronounced??

  23. Video Game Dork
    Oct 11th, 2009 at 8:00 pm

    I've always hated 'my bad'.

    But another one that gets me is 'wellness'. For some reason, that word smacks of 'phony' to me.

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