The Most Annoying Word or Phrase Is…

What word or words grind your gears the most? Based on a random landline and mobile phone survey of about 1,700 adults, the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion, a.k.a. the Marist Poll, determined that the dismissive “whatever” is the most annoying word or phrase in casual conversation for the 11th consecutive year.

The Marist Poll discussed its findings that revealed the top five most annoying words:

“For more than a decade, whatever has taken the top spot as the most annoying word or phrase used in conversation. 34% of Americans this year have this view. One in five U.S. residents (20%) say no offense, but is the most irritating word or phrase followed by a new addition to the list, dude, with 16%. 14% of Americans say literally is the most bothersome. Another newcomer, please wait, I’ll be right with you, receives 9%. Six percent of Americans are unsure…Regardless of gender, whatever is considered to be the most annoying word or phrase of men (37%) and women (31%).”

According to Ranker, however, “woke” is the most annoying word of 2019.

Banished Words List

Michigan’s Lake Superior State University has released its 45th annual list of words/phrases that theoretically/satirically should be banished from the English language in 2019.

According to the university wordsmiths, “Through the years, LSSU has received tens of thousands of nominations for the list, which now includes more than a thousand entries. This year’s list is culled from nominations received mostly through the university’s website, lssu.edu/banished.

Word-watchers target pet peeves from everyday speech, as well as from the news, fields of education, technology, advertising, politics and more. A committee makes a final cut in December.”

Going forward into the new year, the list of what are described as misused, overused, or useless words is as follows:

  • quid pro quo
  • artisanal
  • curated
  • influencer
  • literally
  • I mean
  • living my best life
  • mouthfeel
  • chirp
  • jelly
  • totes
  • vibe/vibe check
  • OK, Boomer

Quid pro quo was the most nominated word or phrase.

Additional Words or Slang Not to Live By

Like a comfortable hoodie, certain words/phrases fit a situation and provide a shorthand way to get your message across.

However, a lot more of them have entrenched themselves in everyday conversation and the lexicon as cliches or fillers. Some even have outlived their “shelf life” and “sell-by-date,” although your conversational mileage may vary.

In no particular order, here are some additional banishment candidates — and there’s a lot of them — that this blog has collected. Remember though, your mileage may vary.

  • honestly, to be honest, to be honest with you, to tell you the truth, or any of its derivations [a big red flag; usually subtext for just the opposite–sometimes referred to as a perception qualifier]
  • I’m not gonna lie [another tell]
  • Let me be clear, let’s be clear, or clearly [usually means the opposite — see video clip below]
  • in fairness/to be fair
  • national treasure [usually a fawning way of describing some self-important or overrated pundit]
  • you’re entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts
  • so [when used as the first word of a sentence–often incessantly used by entrepreneurs who appear on the Shark Tank TV show]
  • literally [already flagged by the Marist poll and LSSU, and thus a third-time offender, it is typically vocalized when the speaker actually means “figuratively”]
  • wrong side of history
  • winning/breaking the Internet
  • pump the brakes
  • it is what it is
  • at the end of the day
  • there is no there there
  • epic
  • singing Kumbaya
  • influencer [as in social media influencer– also flagged by LSSU]
  • absolutely [instead of a simple “yes”]
  • disruptive [a positive in the context of start-up-venture hype; a negative when the Establishment Swamp complains about President Trump]
  • ceiling [as in, “Trump can’t win/has a low ceiling of voters”–likely headed for a recurrence in 2020]
  • no problem [instead of saying “you’re welcome”]
  • I mean [dropped repeatedly at the beginning of a sentence]
  • thank you [instead of an expression of gratitude, it’s used when signifying agreement with what the other person has just said]
  • first-time caller/long-time listener or thank you for taking my call [on talk radio]
  • it’s all good
  • my bad
  • my truth/your truth
  • conflate
  • pivot
  • check all the boxes
  • snowflake
  • microaggression
  • safe space
  • transparency
  • I get it
  • binary choice
  • basically
  • amazing
  • totally
  • awesome
  • awesomesauce
  • throwing someone under the bus
  • having someone’s back
  • you know what I’m saying (usually framed as a question)
  • I don’t have a dog in this fight
  • that dog don’t hunt
  • the gift that keeps on giving
  • skin in the game
  • comfortable in their own skin
  • step up my/your/his/her game
  • game on
  • bring it
  • how ya doin’?
  • you know
  • like
  • Google it
  • that’s a great question
  • actually
  • adulting
  • my journey/my truth

Related story: Are These the Top 20 Most Irritating Slang Words?

In a a style guide, Jacob Rees-Mogg, a member of the U.K. parliament and Boris Johnson ally, reportedly banned his staff from using these words, according to the London Telegraph:

  • going forward
  • very
  • due to
  • ongoing
  • hopefully
  • Unacceptable
  • equal
  • too many ‘I’s
  • yourself
  • lot
  • got
  • speculate
  • ‘invest’ (in schools, etc.)
  • No longer fit for purpose
  • I am pleased to learn
  • meet with
  • ascertain
  • disappointment 
  • I note/under

Pressing the Reset Button on These Words

Here is the other side of the coin also from a Michigan educational institution. Wayne State University’s annual Word Warriors initiative that assembles a “list of eminently useful words that should be brought back to enrich our language.”

All year long, Wayne State take suggestions for words that should be “brought back from the brink of obsolescence” or “worthy of retrieval from the linguistic cellar” from the general public, as well as its from administrators of its Word Warriors website.

The 2019 top-ten list in Word Warriors’ 10th year (get your dictionary ready) is as follows:

  • Anecdoche
  • Anhedonia
  • Coadunation
  • Fubsy
  • Lickpenny
  • Logorrhea
  • Salubrious
  • Slonk
  • Slugabed
  • Trenchant

2019 Wokey Words of the Year

Merriam-Webster, Dictionary.com, the Oxford Dictionary, and the American Dialect Society all announce their often politically charged words of the year on or about New Year’s Eve.

Indeed, the 2019 listings again seem to a degree about pushing a woke (Ranker‘s most annoying word as noted above), SJW agenda.

According to Merriam-Webster, “they” is the word of the year based on ta 313 percent year-over year increase in online lookups.

Apart from “they,” Merriam Webster also compiled a top-10 words of the year list as follows:

  • quid pro quo [first on the LSSU list as overused]
  • impeach
  • crawdad 
  • egregious
  • clemency
  • the
  • snitty
  • tergiversation
  • camp
  • exculpate

“Justice” was the 2018 word of the year (“feminism” was so designated in 2017).

“Existential” is the Dictionary.com word of the year, accompanied by a long dissertation on its website. “Nonbinary” was the runner up.

For the Oxford Dictionary, the 2019 word of the year is “climate emergency” (although that’s two words).

The American Dialect Society will announce its 30th annual word of the year on January 4, 2019, in a vote to be taken at its annual conference. Check back for updates.

Update: In a further pile-on of identity politics, the American Dialect Society voted “(my) pronouns” as its word — or vocabulary item — of the year 2019 and the singular “they” as the word of the decade.

Ben Zimmer, the organization’s chair of its new words committee explained:

“’When a basic part of speech like the pronoun becomes a vital indicator of social trends, linguists pay attention…The selection of (my) pronouns as Word of the Year speaks to how the personal expression of gender identity has become an increasing part of our shared discourse. That trend is also reflected in singular they being chosen as Word of the Decade, with a growing recognition of the use of they for those whose identities don’t conform to the binary of he and she.'”

“…In a companion vote, sibling organization the American Name Society voted Arrokoth (the name of a far-flung minor planet) as Name of the Year for 2019 in its fifteenth annual name-of-the-year contest.

Down with Uptalk

Circling back to annoying conversational techniques, let’s take a minute to chat about uptalk, or upspeak, a phenomenon that linguists often describe more formally as high rising terminal.

You’ve heard it all over television, and from there it has seeped into day-to-day life. This is the tendency for a speaker to end a declarative sentence as if it is a question. In other words, uptalk is a habit of finishing statement with an interrogative tone, if not an invisible question mark. Somehow this has become cool.

Uptalk makes the speaker appear uncertain, indecisive, or equivocating about even about the most trivial of matters. It also seems to make the speaker sound like he or she is desperate for affirmation from the listener.

Having spread like a verbal virus, perhaps minimizing uptalk would be a most welcome New Year’s resolution.

Ex-CBS journalist Connie Chung reported on uptalk way back in 1994, but the intonation pattern has unfortunately even become far more “pronounced” since then.

Agree or disagree with these lists of annoying or acclaimed words? Comment below or on Twitter.

[Featured image credit: PDPics/Pixabay]