Annoying Conversation

Today, I happened across a story about a recent Marist Poll of the most annoying phrases in conversation.  Although the phrase "whatever" was cited as most annoying, there were some other interesting trends in the poll data.  For instance, the wealthier and more educated participants despised the phrase "you know" more than those with lower incomes or without a college degree.  The gender of the participant, though, seemed to play little role in what words or phrases he or she found annoying.  Regional differences, however, were significant.  In the Northeast and South, for instance, "you know" was a much closer second place to "whatever" for top verbal annoyance (nearly equal in the Northeast).  In the Midwest and South, however, "whatever" was deemed more aggravating by better than a 2:1 ratio.  "Anyway," "it is what it is," and "at the end of the day" were the remaining choices presented as part of the poll, but they were all distant trailers.

My navigation eventually carried me to a www.wired.com blog citing a list compiled by Oxford researchers and published in a book, Damp Squid: The English Language Laid Bare, by Jeremy Butterfield, of the Top 10 Most Irritating Expressions in the English Language:

1 - At the end of the day
2 - Fairly unique
3 - I personally
4 - At this moment in time
5 - With all due respect
6 - Absolutely
7 - It’s a nightmare
8 - Shouldn’t of
9 - 24/7
10 - It’s not rocket science

If I were to come up with my own list of annoying phrases, I doubt that any of these get top billing.  But then again, I'm just a simple hillbilly -- Blind Bambi.