"Whatever" is, you know, annoying.

• Position: LANGUAGE - Brief article

Nearly 50 percent of Americans say that "whatever" is the word or phrase they find most annoying in conversation, according to a port by the Marist Institute. People in the Northeast are a bit more tolerant of the W-word, with just 35 percent finding it the most irritating. But be sure to avoid saying "whatever" in states like Ohio and Missouri: Fifty-five percent of Midwesterners put that at the top of their most-annoying list.

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