'Whatever' tops poll of annoying words

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y., Dec. 17 (UPI) -- A New York state pollster said its survey of U.S. adults indicates "whatever" reigns for the third consecutive year as the most annoying word in conversation.

The Marist Poll of 1,026 adults, conducted via telephone Nov. 8-10, found 38 percent of respondents consider "whatever" to be the most annoying word used in casual conversation while 20 percent said they disliked "like" and 19 percent cited "you know."

The pollster said 11 percent chose "just sayin'" as the most annoying and 7 percent hate hearing "seriously."

Marist said "whatever" also topped the poll last year with 39 percent of the vote.

The poll had an error margin of 3 percentage points.