"You know," "whatever" is a really annoying term -- "like"
"you know." We're "just sayin'."
When it comes to the most annoying words or phrases used in
conversation, those four top the list in 2012, according to
the annual Marist Poll.
"Whatever" headed the list, cited by 32 percent of adults,
and next came "like," which 21 percent didn't like.
Runners-up included "Twitterverse" and "gotcha'."
The results mirrored last year's survey when "whatever"
topped the annoying words list for a third straight year. But
"seriously," named by 7 percent last year, dropped off the
list entirely - really.
Marist questioned 1,246 adults in a U.S. nationwide,
telephone survey.
Results showed differences by age and regions, with people
younger than 45 or in the Northeast especially annoyed by
"like," while "you know" offended more of the 45-and-over
set.
Men and women gave similar responses overall, but whites were
twice as likely as non-whites to find "you know" irritating.
And people under 45 were more than twice as likely as those
over 45 to be put off by "just sayin.'"
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