Marist poll: “Whatever” rated most annoying word of 2013

Dec 20, 2013

“Whatever” was rated the most annoying word of 2013 by 38% of respondents of a recent survey.

A number of 1,173 Americans have been surveyed in early December by the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion, based in Poughkeepsie, New York.

The new result is up from 32% in 2012, pollsters said.

What’s more, “whatever” has topped the annoying word charts for five straight years.

“The word can be very dismissive and rude,” said Mary Griffith, media director for Marist.

“Whatever” was rated the most annoying word of 2013 by 38 percent of respondents of Marist poll

“It’s a put-down to some extent and it can signal to the other person that what they are saying is not important.”

Americans also do not like the word “like,” which ranked second in the survey of most annoying words, at 22%. The term “you know” pulled 18%, “just sayin” 14%, and “obviously” 6%. Two percent of respondents were unsure.

Marist began polling on annoying words five years ago. The word choices are provided to the respondents based on Marist research and prior surveys, Mary Griffith said. While most Marist surveys focus on politics, the poll on annoying words is enlightening, she said.

“We like to keep a finger on the pulse of popular culture,” she added.

In the same survey, Marist pollsters wanted to know what political word or phrase Americans would like to see disappear in 2014.

“Obamacare” was mentioned by 41% of respondents as a word they do not want to hear next year.

Americans are also averse to and would like to eliminate the Washington terms “shutdown” and “gridlock,” which got votes from 30% and 11%, respectively.

“Fiscal cliff” got 10% of the vote and “sequestration” 4%. Four percent of respondents were unsure.

“Whatever” voted as the most annoying word for the third year in a row

Dec 18, 2011

A recent poll of Marist University in New York asserts that the word “whatever” was voted as the most annoying word for the third year in a row.

Marist University announced Friday that the dismissive “whatever” continues to reign supreme in the common lexicon.

For the third year in a row, the Marist University poll asked 1,026 adults what the most grating word was from a five options.

“Whatever” took the cake with 38% of the lot, though this is a drop of one point from last year, and even lower than its high of 49% in 2009.

While it clearly has staying power, some balked at the thought that “whatever”, a word made popular in the 1990’s cult film Clueless, was truly the worst thing to come out of society’s mouths over the past decade or so.

The respondents do not get to suggest the words that bother them the most, but rather are given five options decided upon by the university.

In 2011, options included the always-annoying “like” which came in second with 20% of the vote, followed shortly behind by “you know” with 19%.

“Just saying” and “seriously” rounded up the group with 11 and 7% respectively.

In 2010, other options included “to tell you the truth”, “you know what I mean”, and “actually”.

The inaugural class included “it is what it is” and “anyway”.