Annoying Communication

An interesting poll was conducted recently in which people were asked to name several of the most annoying words or phrases of 2010. "Whatever" topped the list with "to tell the truth" being another that seemed to rub people the wrong way this year. More often than not I end up not agreeing with poll results, but I must say this time around I am very comfortable with the results. "Whatever" annoys me on a number of levels. One one hand, it suggests disrespect. A person makes a comment or expresses an opinion and the person to whom they are speaking shrugs and simply responds, "whatever." Secondly, it is hard to figure out what a person even means when they use that expression. Is it another way of saying, "I hear you" or "what you just said is stupid?" Finally, it suggests an inability or, more likely, unwillingness on the speakers part to articulate what thoughts they are having; as if responding to what has just been said requires too much effort.

The other phrase that caught my attention, "to tell the truth," has long been a pet peeve of mine. When a person uses it, are they saying that everything they have been saying previous to that point has been a lie? Why is it necessary to preface what one is about to say with the claim they are now about to speak the truth or be honest? If all one is really trying to do is place emphasis on their next statement, then why not say something like, "let me stress this next point," or if that's not good enough, then simply repeat the same statement several times.

And speaking of annoying phrases, let me throw two more into the fire: one is "have a good one" and the other is "you know." The first phrase is far too vague for my liking. Whenever it is said to me, I want to respond "Have a good what?" Be specific. If you want me to have a good day, then say so. As far as the second phrase goes, if it were to be edited out of every sentence ever used up to now or used in the future, I would be hard-pressed to believe it would ever be missed. Birds would continue to sing, the sun would continue to rise in the morning, and drivers would continue to tailgate and not use their turn signals if "you know" never was used.

Full disclosure: I have been guilty of using every one of the annoying words or phrases I have mentioned. This just goes to show that none of us are perfect communicators, especially me.