Today’s Troubled Teen Times. Whatever

It is official – “whatever” is the most annoying word. According to a recent poll conducted by the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, 47% of Americans, irrespective of gender, location and age, believe there is no word more irritating than ‘whatever’. “You know” earned 25% of the votes, followed by “it is what it is” that bothered 11% of the population. About 7% think the use of “anyway” should be banned while 2% who participated in the poll, felt “at the end of the day” was the corniest phrase.

Supposedly immortalized by Nirvana in the song “Oh well, whatever, never mind”, and popularized by the Valley Girls in the movie “Clueless”, the word “whatever” has come to signify everything from apathy to the end of a discussion, debate or argument. The boredom conveyed by the tone in which one says ‘whatever’ is highly exasperating. In addition, the words ‘like’, ‘OMG’, ‘LMAO’ and ‘cool’ are used far too much in our everyday real life or internet vocabulary.

We sure can do without incorporating the words “awesome” or “amazing” in every other sentence we construct. These two words seem to be used to describe anything from an easy question paper or a delectable apple pie to a well-delivered farewell speech or at times even your girlfriend’s silky smooth tresses. Words and phrases such as “basically”, “over the top”, “value added” and “attitude” are not just used in everyday conversations, but in writing too. As for me, I would rather be around a person who describes a plate of kebabs as “tasty” rather than simply, “nice”.

People have become too imprecise and lackadaisical while expressing themselves. It makes me wonder if we’re running short of words already. The younger generation, in particular, is a coherent lot. They do not take the trouble to articulate and because they text more than they talk or write, they use too many blanket terms, leading to misinterpretation. What’s worse is that this kind of language is used even in answer scripts and exams.

Using terms such as “whatever” is symbolic of a certain callousness and indifference in society, by and large. Apart from wanting to appear “cool”, people have become rather apathetic. This trend is scary because this kind of apathy might seem harmless now, but this indifference is capable of building barriers between people. We do not want a generation of people who not only “couldn’t care less” about anything in the world, but also lose their instinctive love and emotions by using these “cool” and repititive words to express themselves.