"Whatever" Reigns As Most Annoying Phrase

If you find yourself irked when someone gives you the "whatever" treatment, you're not alone.

According to a Marist poll, almost half of Americans - 47 percent - said there's no phrase more annoying than "whatever."

Other candidates for most irritating phrases: "you know" netted 25 percent of the vote; "it is what it is" got 11 percent; "anyway" got 7 percent; and "at the end of the day" ended the day with 2 percent.

Some geographic tendencies also emerged. "Whatever," for example, is more loathed in the Midwest - where it annoys 55 percent of respondents - than it is in the Northeast, where it bothers 35 percent.

The telephone survey of 938 people was conducted last month. Respondents were selected from a list of telephone exchanges from around the country, selected to represent each region in proportion to its population. The margin of error is plus/minus 3.2 percent.