The Most Hated English Words
A lot of us have words we just don't like. Here are some of the most-hated words found in English.
If you ask English speakers what words they hate most, they'll often say "moist," which means "a little bit wet." Research suggests that "moist" is hated because of how it makes us think of bodily fluids.
Many people also say they hate the word "phlegm," which is the thick, sticky fluid that can develop in the throat when you're sick.
Jargon also gets a lot of hatred — words used by a particular group or industry that others may not understand. Words like "synergy" — which is just business jargon for "good teamwork" — are often disliked because they're used far too often.
In a 2020 survey, the Marist Institute for Public Opinion found that for people in the US, the most annoying word is "whatever." In fact, "whatever" has been annoying Americans more than any other word for over a decade!
The word means "anything and everything, " but when someone replies with "whatever" in conversation, it often suggests that they're not interested in or don't really care about responding to what the other person has to say.
The next most annoying word in the survey was "like." In this sense it doesn't really mean anything, but is added to spoken sentences for many reasons, including to help speakers structure their sentences or to give them a chance to pause and think.
It's more commonly used by young people, which may explain why it was number two on the list.
