In fact, from what I remember of a long term relationship, "whatever" is the opposite of "no" when it comes to trying to initiate romantic proceedings. You either get told "no" or "whatever". The "yes" dies out after the first few years.
It's the annual survey by the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion. It found that nearly four in ten adults named "whatever" as the most annoying verbal filler in casual conversation, while one in five adults had similar disdain for "like" and "you know."
I notice it was a survey of adults. If it was a survey of teens they wouldn't say a bad thing about "whatever". If they couldn't use that they'd be practically mute.
Unless that's what happened. They asked a lot of teens, "Excuse me, what would you say is the most annoying word?" And the teens just mumbles, "Oh, whateva!", hid back under their fringe and scurried off to McDonald's.
I agree with these findings but I think it doesn't go far enough. Whatever is the most annoying word when it comes to verbal fillers, but it's also the most annoying word when it's actually used as a word.
If you ask someone what type of take away food they'd like and they say, "whatever," they're not giving you free rein to pick what you want. They are simply not participating. As soon as you say, "OK, erm, I quite fancy Chinese," they'll chime in with, "No, not Chinese."
Then you didn't mean "whatever"!
But the most annoying use of "whatever" is when it's alongside lashings of "you want" and "you like" and put in a Status Quo song.
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