The World's Most Annoying Word

You Know, "Whatever" Is an Annoying Word

By Erin J. Shea


You know, at the end of the day, it is what it is: Americans are annoyed with those who use a handful of phrases or words, and "whatever" tops them all.

Typically used to express an exaggerated sense of annoyance or exasperation, the slang term "whatever" was found to be the most annoying word used in conversations by 47 percent of Americans surveyed in a recent Marist College poll. "Whatever" easily trounced other annoying contenders, including "you know" (25 percent), "it is what it is" (11 percent) and "anyway" (7 percent). While the results varied slightly by region—people in the Midwest are more irritated by "whatever" than those in the Northeast are—age, race and income seemed to play no factor in people's opinions.

In addition to "whatever," "you know," "it is what it is" and "anyway," respondents also were asked to rank the phrase "at the end of the day" (2 percent).

Source: http://www.oprah.com/article/spirit/inspiration/20091103-orig-whatever-worlds-most-annoying-word

最令人抓狂的話：隨便啦

【元氣周報╱中央社路透電】

2009.10.16 08:17 am

如果你想成為一個高明的交談者，千萬不要使用「隨便啦」（whatever）這個字。調查結果顯示，它是美國民眾感到最討厭的會話辭彙。

瑪莉斯特學院對938名民眾進行的電話民意調查顯示，「隨便啦」對許多人而言比「無論如何」（anyway）更使人惱怒，也比「就是這樣」（it is what it is）、「你知道的」（you know）更難忍受。

瑪莉斯特民調媒體主任亞佐利說：「這項民調的發想來自於一次日常對話，大家開始討論最令人受不了的辭彙，生活中不斷聽到的字彙」。

近5成受訪民眾表示「隨便啦」是最令他們感到困擾的辭彙。所有調查區域、性別、年齡組、教育程度和收入階層，公認這個字是最令人憤怒的字眼。

亞佐利說：「它在日常對話中經常被用到。同時，如果你想想背後的涵義，通常它也被用來結束與他人的對話。它令人討厭的原因就在這裡；和我們所用的其他語句比較起來，它非常令人厭惡。」

有25%受訪者選擇「你知道的」為他們最希望從英文中消失的辭彙。另有11%的人受不了「就是這樣」，7%的人討厭聽到「無論如何」。

還有2%的人不喜歡「最終」（at the end of the day）這句話。

亞佐利表示：「想成為一個好的交談者，關鍵在於永遠要了解自己在說些什麼，同時，也許要對被過度使用的辭彙作點研究。」

【2009/10/13 元氣周報】