Not fake news: ‘Whatever’ tops annoying word list, literally

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. (AP) — The shoulder-shrugging reply “whatever” continues to annoy Americans more than other words or phrases, but “fake news” is coming on strong.

The annual Marist College poll of most annoying words and phrases found “whatever” topping the list for the ninth consecutive year. It was the pick of one-third of poll respondents, who were given five choices.

The recent addition “fake news” was slightly ahead of “no offense, but” for second place, 23 percent to 20 percent. About 1 in 10 found “literally” to be most grating, as did a similar number for “you know what I mean.”