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

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. (AP) – The shoulder-shrugging reply “whatever” continues to annoy Americans more than any other word or phrase, 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 straight year. It was the choice of one third of poll respondents.

The recent addition “fake news” took second place with 23 percent followed by “no offense, but” with 20 percent.

Another 11 percent found “literally” to be supremely grating and 10 percent picked “you know what I mean.”

The telephone survey of 1,074 adults conducted Nov. 6-9 has a margin of error of three percentage points.